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(New page: Church Discipline: Difficult, Painful and Necessary Within the a lot more than 30 years which i have been involved with ministry, I've took part in a number of situations coping with chur...)
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Church Discipline: Difficult, Painful and Necessary
Within the a lot more than 30 years which i have been involved with ministry, I've took part in a number of situations coping with church discipline. Recently another has arisen. Though I believe this current case can lead to restoration, it doesn't take away the difficulty, pain or necessity of discipline.
Church discipline is tough for many reasons. The first is it constitutes a person involved keenly aware of his own sin, yet requires discernment and judgment regarding the sin of some other person.
It's also difficult because many Christians (sometimes well-meaning) inquire for example: Don't we feel in mercy and forgiveness? Doesn't the Bible tell us to not judge? Are you so perfect that you could pronounce judgment on someone else? [There are answers to these questions but that is for another time]. Regardless of these questions, it is clear the New Testament church both supported and practiced church discipline [see, for example, 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 caused us for that kingdom of God throw everything aside to pursue some ungodly desire and select to reside openly in unrepentant sin.
It is also painful because the consequences of sin often spread everywhere affecting a lot more people than the individual who has sinned. Relationships, ministries, reputations, and several other things 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 say that church discipline should not be practiced. Let me suggest three reasons why I believe the church is known as to rehearse discipline:
• The Glory of God: An individual who lives in openly unrepentant sin yet maintains that he/she is a Christian brings dishonor instead of glory to God. The vindication from the honor and glory of Christ reaches stake.
• The Reclaiming of the individual: Church discipline isn't primarily focused on retribution but on restoration. It's the hope that the one who has sinned will recognize that sin, repent, and go back to the Lord. I have personally seen this take place in several cases.
• The Purity from the Church: Though you can now see that the church, being an organization full of sinners, has numerous problems. However, it's still the bride to be of Christ called to purity and the edification of its members. The openly unrepentant person calls that pursuit of purity into question and can be a obstacle to the edification of other members from the church.
