10 Truths About Church Discipline
If you had to make a short list of church practices that have fallen on hard times, “church discipline” has to be near the top. Whether the unpopular nature of confronting sin, or the way people seem to run away from conflict, to the underdeveloped art of conflict resolution, church discipline has become nearly non-existent.
Yet we don’t apply this approach in other contexts like sports, the arts, or physical fitness. You would fire a coach who did not tell players the truth or confront dysfunction on a team. You would laugh at the notion that one could become a concert-performing violinist while ignoring practice. You would never hire a trainer who lets you eat whatever you want, scroll your phone during workouts, and watch movies from a chair while the treadmill speeds along with no human on its track! And yet, how can we tolerate church leaders who refuse to confront sin and church environments where discipline is not taken seriously?
At the same time, I do wonder if one of the reasons for the lack of practicing church discipline in the church today is an issue of ignorance, rather than indifference. Furthermore, perhaps there is a stigma of shame because church discipline has not been practiced with a spirit of love and gentleness.
Whether you’ve never seen it practiced, or been hurt by poorly handled discipline processes, I want to help you think through both the what and the how of church discipline. Here are 10 truths that every church leader and Christian should think deeply about:
1: Only for professing believers
(Matthew 18:15; Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 5)
The outside world may drive you crazy, but the primary goal of church discipline is to exercise loving judgment upon unrepentant sinners who profess to be a part of the church and see them restored. The world is not the subject of discipline, the church is. In 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for tolerating sexual sin in their midst. He exhorts, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”
Perhaps to Christians who spend more time yelling about Taylor Swift (and believe me, I find her problematic!) Paul might say: Hey, maybe spend more time dealing with sin in your own ranks, rather than barking about the world being the world.
2: Involves as few people as possible
(Matthew 18:15-16)
In Matthew 18:15-16 Jesus makes it clear that church discipline should involve as few people as possible and that things should be resolved privately, long before ever saying something publicly. This is convicting because we are often tempted to go public before going private. A church that practices discipline faithfully will do so with discretion as much as possible. This is not to cover public sin (such things should be addressed publicly), but it is to prevent slander and gossip when someone has repented and love covers (1 Peter 4:8).
3: Exhausts private options before going public
(Matthew 18:15)
We are to go privately to our brother or sister first, then, if they refuse to listen or repent we take one or two witnesses. Only after they reject private, personal, and loving confrontations do we need to make a public statement to the church. Perhaps a convicting application in today’s social media-saturated world is to remind ourselves that “tell it to the church” refers to the gathered assembly of members, not taking to Twitter or Facebook to ignite online gossip.
4: Facts (patterns/evidence) must be confirmed
(Matthew 18:15)
The purpose of bringing witnesses into discipline situations accomplishes two things:
First, it proves the accusations to be true. This enables loving, clear, and honest confrontation in which all parties agree on what is happening. Whether or not a sinful party chooses to repent is another matter, but facts should be confirmed.
Second, it protects from false accusations. Sadly, there will be times when leaders or people are falsely accused. Witnesses confirming facts ensure someone is not framed by lies.
5: The spiritually mature lead the process
(Galatians 6:1)
A parallel passage on sin and restoration is in Galatians where Paul calls on the spiritually mature to lead the process. This doesn’t guarantee repentance or even that the process won’t lead to conflict (this may be inevitable), but it does provide the best path to restoration because it’s either going to be the wise (mature person) leading the wise (repentant sinner), or the wise (mature person) leading the blind (unrepentant sinner). Either way, those leading the process are behaving in a Christ-like manner and gently dealing with people being disciplined.
6: Humble repentance expedites the process
(Matthew 18:15)
The fastest way out of church discipline is humility! The humble heart is in a position to repent because it has laid down its weapons of pride, excuse, blame, and escape!
7: Prideful obstinance prolongs pain
(Matthew 18:17)
From rejecting 1 on 1 confrontation, to stubborn refusal in the face of loving group confrontation, prideful obstinance only hurts the sinning party and the people involved. Pain continues to be prolonged, and the infectious sin of the rebellious individual now begins to erode unity, undermine truth, and bring reproach upon the witness of the church. Pride is our enemy when it comes to church discipline.
8: Everyone should look in the mirror
(Galatians 6:1-2)
Being the humble yet strong leader that he was, Paul warns the church to not only confront the sin of unrepentant church members but to be careful of sin themselves. He gently encourages in Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”
When someone sins, our natural response is to look down on them. In Galatians 6:1 we’re reminded to instead, look in the mirror.
9: Public sin requires public statement
(1 Corinthians 5; Philippians 4:2-3)
Words like “discretion,” or “private,” and phrases like “love covers” (1 Peter 4:8) are never to be used as an excuse to hide sin or cover up the abuses of leaders or people in the church. In fact, public sin is dealt with very publicly in the New Testament. When the sexual sin in 1 Corinthians 5 is not dealt with, but rather, is overlooked, Paul’s rebuke is public — and still preserved until now! When two women are causing issues in the church at Philippi because of their conflict, Paul publicly tells them to “cut it out and get along!” (my paraphrase from Philippians 4:2).
10: The goal is restoration and protection
(Galatians 6:1-2)
When Paul says to “restore” in Galatians 6:1 he uses a word that means to put something back into its proper condition. What can more perfectly convey the goal of church discipline than that picture? Believers are never going to be perfect, and when we get off track we need help being put back into position. Discipline restores sinners, protects all involved from the collateral damage of sin, and promotes the purity of the church.
Church discipline brings glory to God when it follows God’s prescribed order.
