Church Discipline Really Works (pt. 1)

(Ed. note: Ken Sande says publicly disciplining sinful and wanton church members is good for the church, and it’s good for the one disciplined. Then why do so few church practice discipline today? Here is the first part of our interview.)

How do churches need to think differently about church discipline?The word “discipline” describes two aspects of church life. First there is formative discipline. This is the idea of bringing people to maturity in Christ the way a football coach disciplines his team through daily practices. This includes encouragement, practice, instruction, and showing them what is right and good. This is what a church does through its ministries.

The second category is corrective discipline. This occurs when someone swerves off the path. When a football player is not paying attention, when he is proud or defiant, the coach will make the player run laps. In the church when a brother or sister gets off track we use corrective discipline to restore and redeem them, to set them back on course.

How is this most effectively done? Both formative and corrective discipline are best done on a personal level in relationship. A small group is an ideal place. Small groups can uncover problems before they get out of hand, and relationships built on love and respect can help a brother or sister remedy a situation early.

I have an example from early in my marriage. A friend took me out to lunch and gently confronted me about a joke I had told about my wife on Sunday. He was concerned that the joke hurt her. I promised to go home and ask my wife about it. When I did she broke into tears. I would probably still be telling that joke today if a brother had not loving confronted me with something he thought was hurting my marriage.

When we are in close relationships with others we can detect dangerous patterns earlier, and in a small group we have two or three others who can look into our lives. Only later, in higher levels of discipline, should the ecclesiastical order come into play.

What happens was when a disciplinary issue involves more of the church? What should guide leaders?Leaders need to understand the three motives for discipline. First, discipline is meant to restore someone caught in sin. Discipline should be a redemptive process not a punitive process. Unfortunately most churches don’t employ formal discipline until offenses are so terrible, relationships so shattered, and patterns so engrained, that the chances of restoring someone are very small.

Secondly, discipline is used to protect the rest of the body. One church I was helping had a deacon involved in some immoral behavior. Nothing was done, people looked the other way because they didn’t want to be judgmental. Pretty soon another person was involved, and eventually the pastor was caught up in the sin. Sin is like a cancer. Many churches are like a doctor that waits too long to do surgery and the cancer continues to spread.

The third purpose of discipline is to guard the honor of God’s name. When the church knows of sin, and does nothing about it, people will not only mock the church, they will also mock God.

Can you give an example of a church that approached discipline with these three principles? I know of a situation where a man was abusing the trust he had established with other believers. He was persuading elderly people in the church to invest in a risky business deal. After receiving thousands of dollars from them he was unable to deliver a return on the investment.

Church leaders approached him, and at first they were very understanding and patient. But they later saw he was stringing them along as well. Finally they put some pressure on him to return the money or face formal discipline. Eventually he did return the money.

But the more powerful outcome came through the disciplinary action of the elders, their counsel and teaching, and prayer. The man finally came to repentance and he uncovered his lifelong habit of seeking wealth by putting other people’s money at risk. God convicted him and he requested to go before the whole congregation on Sunday and confess his sin.

Do you recommend public confession on a Sunday morning where visitors may be present? On this Sunday, after his confession, one of the women who had been most vocal in her anger toward him walked to the front of the church and said, “I’m the one who needs forgiveness more than he does. I have been murdering him in my heart.” She turned to him and said, “I forgive you, will you please forgive me?”

That is a Sunday you want visitors present. They are seeing the gospel lived out in a powerful way. In this case the sinner was restored, the body was protected, and God was honored.

In part 2:Biblical mandates and legal issues.

Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries brings his skills as a lawyer and engineer to consultations with churches, organizations, companies, and couples. His ministry is headquartered in Billings, Montana.

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