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Church Discipline: Difficult, Painful and Necessary

In the a lot more than 3 decades that I have been involved in ministry, I've took part in numerous situations coping with church discipline. Recently another has arisen. Though In my opinion this current case will result in restoration, it doesn't take away the difficulty, pain or necessity of discipline.

Church discipline is tough for several reasons. One is it makes a person involved keenly aware of his own sin, yet calls for discernment and judgment regarding the sin of some other person.

It is also difficult because many Christians (sometimes well-meaning) ask questions for example: Don't we believe in mercy and forgiveness? Doesn't the Bible tell us to not judge? Are you currently so perfect that you could pronounce judgment on someone else? [There are answers to these questions but that's for an additional time]. In spite of these questions, it is clear the New Testament church both supported and practiced church discipline [see, for instance, Matthew 18:15-20; Galatians 6:1; I Corinthians 5:1-5].

Church discipline is painful since it breaks our hearts to see a brother or sister who has walked and worked with us for that kingdom of God throw everything aside to pursue some ungodly desire and choose to reside openly in unrepentant sin.

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It is also painful since the consequences of sin often spread far and wide affecting many more people compared to person who has sinned. Relationships, ministries, reputations, and many other activities could be destroyed within the wake of sin. Our hearts ache to see this suffering and destruction.

Yet, regardless of these things, many would still state that church discipline should not be practiced. Allow me to suggest three reasons why In my opinion the church is called to rehearse discipline:

• The Glory of God: A person who lives in openly unrepentant sin yet maintains that he/she is a Christian brings dishonor rather than glory to God. The vindication of the honor and glory of Christ reaches stake.

• The Reclaiming of the Person: Church discipline is not primarily centered on retribution but on restoration. It is the hope that the one who has sinned will recognize that sin, repent, and return to the Lord. I have personally seen this occur in several cases.

• The Purity of the Church: Though anyone can see that the church, being an organization filled with sinners, has numerous problems. However, it's still the bride of Christ called to purity and also the edification of their members. The openly unrepentant person calls that quest for purity into question and may be a stumbling block to the edification of fellow members from the church.