The practice of church discipline as a New Testament ideal is generally and quietly ignored by most of us. Only a crisis made me take my first disciplinary action as a pastor. I did not start with a mental blueprint for how to go about it, and I still feel that sensitivity and flexibility are essential. However, I believe several principles apply to all cases.
1. We must examine our own spiritual well-being. Paul instructs in Galatians 6:1, “You who are spiritual should restore . . . gently.” There is no substitute for spiritual stability and dependence on the Holy Spirit to provide us with the grace to remain firm but gentle.
When Sharon stuck her finger in my face and said, “I’ll ruin you,” I felt genuinely frightened-perhaps more frightened than, looking back, seems realistic. Only by leaning heavily on the Lord could I stand firm while rejecting the temptation to abandon gentleness and respond to her in kind. The cultivation of humility and brokenness before the Lord can guard us from the tendency to become judgmental, callous, and proud. For me, exercising church discipline has always resulted in a greater sense of humility. Knowing the people who have fallen, I have a much stronger sense that nobody stands above temptation. If Sharon had set her sights on seducing me, if I had been lonely and frightened, would I have been able to stand?
2. We must be willing to follow the pattern given us by Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:15-17 by going first privately, then taking a witness, and finally taking the matter before the whole church. If the church family understands that this pattern will be followed, it is a deterrent to the practice of sin.
The Corinthian church ignored this important pattern and was rebuked for it by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5. When we are unwilling to act, the effects on the local church can be devastating.
3. We must remember the goal is repentance and restoration of fellowship. The Corinthian church also had to be reminded in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 to forgive, comfort, and reaffirm their love for the repentant person. Church discipline is not “shooting the wounded.” Its purpose is redemptive. Many churches fail at this final step of acceptance back into fellowship. Thought must be given to how to encourage loving, caring expressions of forgiveness and support.
4. We must establish the procedures for discipline before a crisis occurs. Church members should know they are spiritually accountable in this and other ways. They should know that the whole church is to watch for and carefully treat diseases that damage our spiritual health.
-Lehman Hotchkiss
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