The Hurt and Healing of Church Discipline
Beyond Forgiveness by Don Baker, Multnomah, $7.95
Reviewed by J. Robin Maxson, pastor, Klamath Evangelical Free Church, Klamath Falls, Oregon
“The silence of my study was interrupted by the persistent ringing of the telephone. A longtime friend from a distant city was calling. ‘I’m sorry, Don, but I have some bad news for you—one of your people has been deeply involved in sin for many years. The whole sordid story is just beginning to surface here, and I thought I’d call you so you could deal with it before it comes to you second hand.’
“He described a long series of events with all the confirming evidence that was needed. It was not just one of my people—it was one of my dear friends—it was one of my staff who had fallen.”
With those two paragraphs, Don Baker plunges the reader into the real world of a sinning saint and of a church whose entire ministry was jeopardized by that sin.
Twenty-six months and two weeks later, Baker, senior pastor of Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon, addressed the offender before the congregation that had shared in the ordeal of discipline. What he said was staggering: “God has possibly made you better qualified to minister today than anybody I know.”
The dramatic events are narrated by Baker in a gripping book that shows how church discipline can go Beyond Forgiveness to full restoration.
The man in question had been on Hinson’s staff for two years, in ministry for twenty-five. He had been married for twenty-eight years to a wonderful, supportive woman. They had three grown children, all believers. His record was blemish-free; his ministry effective. But over a period of thirteen years, “Greg” committed adultery with ten women in three churches, including Hinson.
The facts were confirmed, the offender confronted, and a course of action determined. Eighty-three hours after the phone call, the exposed church leader made public confession before the assembled church.
Greg’s ordination was revoked, and he resigned his position. But he was not excommunicated. On the contrary, he was enjoined to remain in the church, to submit to the direction of the church staff, to accept professional counseling, and to commit himself to the total process of restoration regardless of cost. This he agreed to do.
Beyond Forgiveness is a book more experienced by the reader than studied. It is a clinic in church discipline done right. The confusion, the anguish, the dilemmas, the study, the strategy, the implementation, the mistakes, the suspense, the outcome are all revealed in sequence. Doctrine (wonderfully summarized in two concise chapters) is unfolded in the context of application. As a reviewer, I wrote down every question raised by the evolving scenario: What about . . . ? What if . . . ? Why didn’t you . . . ? Which passage . . . ?
Most were answered en route.
“It has been extremely awkward for me to find the sensitive balance between the biblical demands for purity and the equally powerful biblical commands to love,” writes Baker. “The primary purpose of discipline is restoration—not retribution.”
That focus was reiterated when I asked Pastor Baker to identify the most common mistake local churches make in applying discipline. “We approach the sin problem in a judgmental way. I used to say, ‘If you don’t quit what you’re doing, we’re going to have to take action against you.’ But our first response should be one of compassion because probably nine out of ten sinners in the church are hurting more than we imagine.”
How has his approach changed? “I’ll put my arm around a man and say (in private), ‘Jim, I’ve heard some things about you, like . . . Is there any truth to this?’ Often he’ll just break down and acknowledge it. But my key question is ‘How can I help you?’ It usually takes them by surprise.”
For Baker, the personal confrontation is normative and usually decisive. “We privately pursue the problem and help people out of their hole as quickly as possible. I’m very confrontive; that’s our responsibility—but always in private.” So usually no discipline is required. “Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 that if we judge ourselves we will not come under God’s judgment. There’s no need for church discipline when there’s self-judgment.”
What demanded the extraordinary measures in Greg’s case was his position of leadership in the church. Baker writes, “His immoral relationships with numerous women disqualified him for ministry. … He had acknowledged his sin, [but we] could not tell if he was truly sorry for his sin or just sorry that he had been caught. … Like a new believer, Greg needed time to reestablish himself in the church—time to prove himself.” And in just over two years, that’s what happened.
Why did it work? Because the leaders at Hinson had already thoroughly studied church discipline in the Bible. Because the church does not reserve discipline for only sensational crimes; caring confrontation is routinely practiced as a style of ministry. Because the man’s wife forgave, stood by him, and participated in the agonizing process of recovery. Because five laymen supported him through a weekly breakfast. Because he got the kind of therapy he needed from a competent psychologist. And because Greg himself never gave in to the temptation to abandon the church.
Greg completed the process, but as Baker is quick to acknowledge, it doesn’t always work. And, though the book does not specifically address the issue, he is aware of the threat of lawsuits over applied church discipline.
“My son-in-law is an attorney, and we’ve been discussing this lately. It’s going to be increasingly difficult for the church to maintain its position in the area of church discipline without some infringement of a church member’s civil liberties. And the civil liberties are always going to take precedence over strict adherence to religious truth [in court].”
What are the ramifications for our practice of discipline? “When we confront anyone, we’re going to have to view it with the idea that some day it might be tested in court. And always consult an attorney before a final accusation is printed or read publicly.”
How about spelling out expectations and procedures at the point where people join a church—say, in a membership class? “That should be included. But we err even more in not giving an individual advance information in the initial confrontation.” Baker handles this by going through Scripture with the person. “I don’t assume a person knows that what he did was wrong. I’ll say, ‘Maybe you’re not aware of what the Scriptures say about this. Let me show you.’ ” If there is resistance, then passages on church discipline are included in the study.
I asked Baker if he struggled with any unresolved issues in this area. “Yes, mainly in the area of divorce and remarriage. I still haven’t resolved what to do with those in a questionable remarriage.”
What is he doing?
“We spend a lot of time in staff meetings discussing it. Usually when there has been a divorce and remarriage in situations not explicitly covered in the Bible, we ask the individuals to step out of leadership positions—at least temporarily.”
Beyond Forgiveness doesn’t attempt to solve every problem, but it provides a large dose of insight in less than 100 pages. It ought to be required reading in seminary. Even for church leaders hip-deep in alligators, this book could be the survival manual they need to find higher ground.
Finding Right People for the Right Jobs
How to Mobilize Church Volunteers by Marlene Wilson, Augsburg, $8.95
Reviewed by David Shelley, pastor of discipleship and worship, Sun River Church, Rancho Cordova, California
Any churchgoer can tell you the horror stories of lay involvement—and noninvolvement—in the church.
“Ten percent of the people pull 90 percent of the load,” moans a pastor.
“I offered to help out once,” a layman says in defense. “I got stuck with a class of fourth-grade boys. I don’t know how to teach, don’t relate to kids, and I couldn’t get a replacement.”
Marlene Wilson knows all the stories. But after years in secular volunteer placement work, she began to see how effective and satisfied volunteers were in YMCAs, nursing homes, Red Cross, and so on. Why then the dissatisfaction in her church and others?
Wilson directed a voluntary action center in Boulder, Colorado, for seven years, recruiting and placing volunteers in about ninety nonprofit agencies. Then in 1976 she began her own company, Volunteer Management Associates, to lead workshops in volunteer management throughout the country.
After applying the principles in her home church, Atonement Lutheran in Boulder, and learning from her mistakes, she began to train churches in effective use of volunteers. Churches now account for about half her work.
I asked her what response she’s gotten.
“Some pastors dislike the term ‘volunteers,’ ” she says. “They suggest ‘disciples.’ ” She doesn’t argue; she insists all God’s people are to be ministers.
The first chapter, her theological basis, points out that the doctrines of the priesthood of all believers and spiritual gifts give us reason to be uncomfortable with the practices of many churches.
She then describes an all-too-common situation: church “pillars” burning out, “pew-sitters” feeling unneeded and left out, and empty job slots receiving more attention than the people who are already working.
“The two major dilemmas I find,” she says, “are churches who want the pastor to share more of his work, and he won’t, and the pastor who would like the congregation to pick up more.”
Jane Whosit agonized over what to write on her stewardship form, turned it in and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.
Mrs. Oldstandby, who leads the women’s group, sits on the church council, and sings in the choir, was asked to help out in the church office. She said yes for fear of letting down the pastor, then lay awake wondering how she would manage this with everything else.
“No one means to overlook Jane Whosit or burn out Mrs. Oldstandby, but it happens all the time,” writes Wilson.
The most effective leader, she argues, is the one who enables other people to minister by involving, supporting, and training them. “The basis of success is not how many hours I put in, but how many people I involve.”
The church serious about overcoming these problems will organize a program to recruit, train, supervise, and evaluate volunteers toward effectively applying their ministry gifts.
Wilson explains clearly the necessary steps to create such a structure. She also provides thirty pages of forms, checklists, sample job descriptions, lists of obstacles and characteristics, and planning sheets to get the program started.
She emphasizes clear job descriptions. People need to know what is expected of them and for how long. Too many people have been burned by endless tasks they never knew they accepted.
Sometimes overwhelming jobs can be broken down into more manageable segments. Perhaps small jobs can be combined into more important roles. New jobs can be created to put the unique gifts of certain members to use.
If this all sounds very businesslike, in many ways it is. But it is anything but impersonal. Wilson emphasizes, not minimizes, people and spiritual gifts.
“First,” she writes, “there is the intentional recruiting of a person for a specific job because he or she has demonstrated the gifts needed.”
She adds, “Be prepared to allow the person to say no gracefully. If a person says yes because he or she feels pressured to do so, the commitment you get may be grudging or half-hearted.”
Don’t assume a negative response to one request means that person wants no involvement. “Very seldom is any follow-up done to see where the individual would like to serve,” she observes.
She recommends an interview, not only to determine whether the person is qualified but also what that person is most eager and suited to do. “The year before we used job descriptions and interviews we had three sign up for the evangelism program,” says Wilson. “The year following we had thirty.”
She’s also willing to take some risks. The freedom to fail often leads to remarkable successes.
Out of her experiences Wilson offers a chapter of the most frequently asked questions:
“What if the wrong person volunteers for the job?”
Answer: “First of all, the person isn’t wrong, the job is wrong for that person. I repeatedly emphasized the importance of matching the right person to the right job. … “
Question: “How can I get out of a volunteer job I’m tired of doing (especially one I’m good at)?”
Answer: “This is where having definite time commitments on the job description helps. … “
These and other answers help clarify both the concepts and the necessary attitudes for this type of work.
What influence does she hope the book will have?
“I would like to see more people ministering outside the church with the church’s encouragement, in scattered ministry rather than gathered,” says Wilson. “The church ought to be celebrating that, not feeling let down.”
Wilson is now working with pastors and lay leaders in “almost every major denomination.” The book discusses the cautious steps necessary in implementing such a new process in a church full of traditions. But, she says, “New churches are the most enthusiastic about it, because they say, ‘If we set it up right we won’t have to undo things later. We want to involve people as they come into the church.’ “
Marlene Wilson has thought creatively, systematically, and seriously about motivating and utilizing individual members in the church. This book can help a lot of us think that way.
A Nondefensive Defense of Small Churches
The Smaller Church in a Super Church Era edited by Jon Johnston and Bill M. Sullivan, Beacon Hill, $5.95
Reviewed by Mark R. Littleton, Millersville, Maryland
“Small is beautiful,” says one pastor.
“Forget it,” says another. “If you stop growing, you’re dead.”
“You’re wrong. Small is for the spiritual.”
The argument could go on and on. But eleven sociologists, all members of the Church of the Nazarene, have jumped into the fray and possibly begun peacemaking instead of haymaking. Their little book (152 pages) not only punctures a lot of hot-air balloons but also provides some zeppelins of its own—of challenge, encouragement, and joy.
What the editors of The Smaller Church want to accomplish is both destructive and constructive. They want to destroy the two extreme assumptions about small churches (less than 150 members). As Bill Sullivan says, “People generally think every small church should grow into a superchurch or it’s a failure. On the other end are those who claim ‘Small is more beautiful than big.’ “
The eleven writers strive hard to explode the myths about little churches that remain little. Those unfair conclusions range from “assuming a severe lack of dedication to making insinuations about a lack of know-how.”
Constructively, the authors want to show that small is not better or worse; it has both strengths and weaknesses, and wise pastors will capitalize on the strengths.
What are these strengths? Intimacy. Family atmosphere. Accountability. Involvement. Small churches are a breeding ground for leaders—young people are given ample opportunity to serve. Simplicity. The quality of worship depends on real worshipers, not actors prancing on a stage. In addition, there’s often a great sense of excitement about a single convert (in contrast to large churches, where an altar call that yields only two is a failure).
As I talked with the editors by phone, I sensed their concern and excitement. All the contributors have been pastors or members of small churches or else closely connected with them. They say unabashedly, “The small church has a long history and a great future.” Jon Johnston loves the intimacy and the challenge of the smaller church.
“You can participate without being perfect,” he says. People are real in small churches. It’s hard to fake it.
The book has a scholarly feel without being professorial. Its contributors all presented papers on the small church at a recent conference of the Association of Nazarene Sociologists of Religion.
These authors want to communicate and motivate. “Throughout history . . . the majority of congregations have had fewer than 100 members.”
The book also has a pastoral bent. “The greatest discovery a smaller church can make is not some organizational strategy or programmatic method but the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit.”
While somewhat repetitive because each author is speaking independently of the others, each writer brings a unique perspective. One chapter by Paul M. Bassett outlines a cameo history of the small church from the days of Christ. Another by B. Edgar Johnson discusses the case history of the Church of the Nazarene as an example of one denomination not only capitalizing on its smaller churches but actually promoting them.
The book is effective as a word of encouragement and challenge. But it will frustrate some readers for its lack of strong biblical theology (not necessarily in substance but in citation) and its apparent jumpiness. Often you feel there’s little connection from one chapter to the next. This is a common fault of anthologies.
If you’re a pastor or member of a smaller church, this book is helpful. First, in making you feel better about yourself (though I think the authors may carry the “small-church complex” to the point of making you feel you ought to have a complex even when you don’t). Second, to give some practical ideas about making your church work at optimum service potential.
Bill Sullivan summed it up well by saying, “No matter what size the church, nothing really happens till someone accepts Christ.” And that can happen anywhere.
Your Best Resource: The People You Know
You and Your Network by Fred Smith, Word, $8.95
Reviewed by Terry Muck, editor, LEADERSHIP
“For sixteen years, Jarrell McCracken (president of Word, Inc.) has been telling me I should write a book. I finally gave in,” said Fred Smith when asked why he wrote You and Your Network. It’s fitting that he wrote in response to a friend’s request, because that’s what this book is all about: how the people you know make a difference in your life—as heroes, models, mentors, peers, friends, enemies, and family.
Smith writes from the point of view of an experienced businessman who has been very active in his local church, as an adviser (to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Youth for Christ, and Christianity Today, Incorporated), a regular contributor to LEADERSHIP Journal, and a public speaker.
“One of the themes of my speaking and teaching has always been to encourage people to recognize the resource other people can be. Few people adequately think about the effect of their relationships unless they’re negative. I try to get people thinking about how they can be mutually helpful, how they can organize their own private network to live a more effective life.”
Each chapter takes one group and analyzes the importance those people can have in your life. The underlying assumption is that the way you relate to each group determines a great deal about the way you approach life. for example, in the chapter on heroes, Smith writes, “Heroes are the personification of our ideals, the embodiment of our highest values. A society writes its diary by naming its heroes. We as individuals do the same.”
Of models he writes, “Heroes we idolize, models we emulate. A person is easier to emulate than an essay. We are able to query our models and share in the dynamism that drives them. We borrow from their motivation.”
Of mentors: “As we climb the mountain toward the peak the way gets narrower and steeper, and our need for a sure guide is greater. Three areas of life need greater discipline: nobility of spirit, stability of emotion, and intellectual maturity. These cannot be taught by an outsider—they must be shown, lived, and developed.”
Of peers: “Few of us escape peer pressure. Adults talk about its effect on young people, but I find it everywhere. It simply takes a different form with adults.”
Of enemies: “Enemies are the opposite bank of our stream. They help define our existence, often more nearly or clearly than we could or would do.”
Of friends: “Someone jokingly said that you can tell a real friend when you call him from jail. If he asks ‘Where?’ he’s your friend. If he asks ‘Why?’ he isn’t.”
Of family: “If your wife doesn’t treat you as she should, be grateful.”
The cumulative result of these chapters is a recognition that each of us has a network whether we use it or not. We can either use it to our advantage or work around it—but we can’t ignore it. On the down side, that means that despite our attempts to be independent, all the people we know make a difference in our lives. Positively, though, we can take that influence and use it to our benefit.
For local-church leaders, the implications are clear: we need to be sensitive to our personal networks as much as anyone. Even as we are helping others, they are influencing us. And we are not exempt from needing their help. We need to develop ways to maximize that help.
Smith tells one way he did it: “(I developed) a personal board of directors. I picked out eight qualities for my life which I saw personified in various men I knew. I asked them for an autographed picture which I framed and placed in a circle which I could see every day. It sounds corny now, but knowing how deeply I felt about this, I probably would do it again. … I also framed a plain mirror, putting it at the bottom where I could look at myself and then look at these others and consider my growth in the particular qualities which I felt were needed in my life.”
However it’s done, networking can make a difference. You and Your Network can help you think through some of the issues and decide how you can best tap yours.
Copyright © 1984 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
