Church discipline, or reconciliation, can
be defined in a number of similar ways. For example, Jay Adams mentions that
church discipline “is God’s provision for good order in His church that creates
conditions for the instruction and growth of the members.”[1]
Robert Cheong notes that church discipline is “God’s ongoing, redeeming work
through His living Word and people as they fight the fight of faith together to
exalt Christ and protect the purity of His Bride.”[2]
Jonathan Leeman adds:
Corrective
church discipline occurs any time sin is corrected within the church body, and
it occurs most fully when the church body announces that the covenant between
church and member is already broken because the member has proven to be
unsubmissive in his or her discipleship to Christ. By this token, the church
withdraws its affirmation of the individual’s faith, announces that it will
cease giving oversight, and releases the individual to the world.[3]
Teaching the church the
correct understanding of what church discipline actually is, and the purpose of
it, will go a long way in helping members to support it. Besides teaching what
church reconciliation is, members must be taught that a failure to carry it out
reveals a serious spiritual deficiency that the Lord will not overlook. The
churches of Pergamun and Thyatira in Revelation 2 were admonished, in part
for their failure to practice church discipline and to tolerate sin. James
Hamilton notes in regards to churches who fail to practice church discipline
that “They will not understand how the church is to apply God’s holiness to
their lives. They will be impure churches, and their membership will include
unbelievers. Those unbelievers will be surprised to hear Jesus tell them he
never knew them (Matt. 7:21-23). Those churches will have blood on their hands
(Ezek. 3:18, 20) and their pastors will give an account (Heb. 13:17).”[4]
Hebrews 12 is an important
chapter in gaining a biblical understanding of the love involved in discipline.
Verses 5-6 say, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him. For
the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives
(ESV).” Here, God’s love toward his children is shown through his discipline.
If God, as a loving Father uses discipline to correct, then so must the church.
The authority given to the church to do this will be fleshed out in the
discussion on Matt. 18. Prov. 5:23 and 13:24 also indicate that a failure to
discipline is a failure to love. While it would seem like discipline is
unloving, “we should counter by contending that it is just the contrary-to fail
to discipline our people is to hate them.”[5]
One question that often
emerges is, “What sins should a church discipline for?” In a general way,
discipline is needed with any sin, and will become more intensified the more
tolerated and evidenced the sin is. Frequently, there is a distinction made
between informal and formal church discipline. Under what is considered
“informal” discipline, correction, instruction, encouragement, etc. is given
person to person in the general context of life. For example, when a parent
corrects a child, or one member of a care group speaks truth into another’s
life, this would be considered “informal” discipline. These would be sins that
could be addressed privately, and could include any sins that become evident in
a person’s life. Formal church
discipline is typically understood to be when the leaders of the church become
involved and bring the matter to the church’s attention, and would include sins
that need to be addressed publically. Leeman classifies the two in terms of
sins that one would expect of Christians, and ones that would not be expected,
so that formal church discipline would take place when this line is crossed
into sins that are not expected of Christians.[6]
The sins that would call for formal discipline are more severe, and often fall
under the categories of ones that would destroy Christian unity and
relationships, snare people in corrupt or immoral behavior, involve rebellion
and rejection of God’s Word, and hurt the testimony of the church.[7]
[1]Jay
Adams, Handbook of Church Discipline
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 16.
[2]Robert.
K. Cheong, God Redeeming His Bride (Scotland:
Christian Focus, 2012), 9.
[3]Jonathan
Leeman, The Church and the Surprising Offense
of God’s Love (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010),
220.
[4]James
M. Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation
through Judgment (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 586.
[5]Poirier,
Peace Making Pastor, 254.
[6]Jonathan
Leeman, Church Discipline (Wheaton:
Crossway, 2012), 49.
[7]Stephen
Davey, In Pursuit of Prodigals
(Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2010), 30-2.
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