If you've ever been in a situation where your church disciplines someone, you probably witnessed a church divided. No matter what a person, deacon or pastor does to get into trouble, there will be people who flatly disagree with discipline and say things like, "Christians should not shoot their own," "Aren't we suppose to forgive?" and so on. But the New Testament clearly teaches that we should not only judge those who are in the community; it tells us that there are times that we should discipline as well.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE IN THE FIRST CENTURY
Jesus gave us the bare basics for church discipline when he said, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector (Matthew 18:15-17).
The Apostles John and Paul likewise taught the importance of church discipline when they dealt with different issues:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat (1 Corinthians 5:11).
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him (2 John 1:10).
I believe the entire early church practiced discipline in the community, and the form of discipline was first warnings, and then if the warnings were not heeded, shunning.
SHUNNING AND SATAN
In the First Century, people did not have a multitude of denominations and churches to visit, attend and settle into. If they were lucky, people had one church in the city they could attend. So when Paul told the Corinthians to shun a man who was living with his father's wife, he had no other churches he could go to.
To a degree, this would be the same as being handed one over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5:5), because the person disciplined was thrown out of the church, and thereby out of the protection of God and His people. I said "to a degree," because when Paul told the Corinthians to shun that certain somebody, he said it was for the destruction of the flesh so that the certain somebody could be saved in the day of Judgment.
It all seems foreign to us, but I think Paul believed that by giving somebody over to Satan we could actually call down a flesh destructive demon of some sort. However that may be, in his second letter he told the church to accept the man back into the fold because he had properly responded to his shunning. In Paul's second letter, there is no mention of the man's flesh being destroyed or hurt during the time he was pushed out of the church.
WHEN SHOULD WE JUDGE AND DISCIPLINE?
1. John believed that we should absolutely ignore and turn away travelling preachers who teach bad doctrrine when it comes to Jesus (2 John 1:10-11). In 1 John, the author tells us to test the spirits (preachers and teachers) to see if they are from God. In order to test the spirits, judging is necessary (1 John 4:1).
2. Paul told his churches to avoid people who started divisions (Romans 16:17-18). Paul likewise told his readers to test everything, and to hold on to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Once again, judging other Christians is imperative in this.
3. Paul also told his churches to reject heretics (people who follow or promote bad doctrine [Titus 3:10]).
4. Paul also told the Corinthians to shun a man who was sleeping with his step mom (1 Corinthians 5).
5. Finally, here is a list of Christians (not unbelievers) that we should stay away from according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
a. A sexually immoral person
b. A greedy person
c. An idolater
d. A slanderer
e. A drunkard
f. A swindler
THE GOAL OF DISCIPLINE
The goal of discipline was not to make enemies or turn people away from the faith. Rather, the goal was to help people to avoid sexual immorality, drunkeness, greed and so on. It was to help people to become better members of the community.
CAN DISCIPLINE GO TOO FAR?
Jesus gave a parable about a farmer who had an enemy (Matthew 13). The farmer planted good seed and his enemy came by night and planted tares to ruin his field. As the plants grew, the farmer could tell that his field had been messed with.
The servents who took care of the field wanted to pull out the weeds, but the farmer was afraid that if he had all the tares pulled out, good crop would likewise be destroyed. He concluded that it was best to allow them both to grow together until the harvest. During harvest, the separation could begin.
This parable was designed by Jesus to tell us that in community discipline, purging and purifying the group can go too far. As we get rid of the bad, good people will likewise be yanked out of the community. This happens in two ways. First of all, when church boards / community leaders get on the roll of throwing out the bad, they begin to fall into the mistake of seeing bad in the good. In other words, they go too far and before too long they are tossing out good people. The Salem Witchhunt was an extreme example of this. The second way that church discipline hurts a church is when the community leaders discipline (someone who does deserve it) there will probably be good people who are affected and will leave on their own.
Discipline in a church carries good and bad consequences. This not to say that we should not have discipline because there will be bad consequences; it is to say that we need to knowthe consequences, consider the consequences, and act wisely when we do discipline.
To a degree, this would be the same as being handed one over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5:5), because the person disciplined was thrown out of the church, and thereby out of the protection of God and His people. I said "to a degree," because when Paul told the Corinthians to shun that certain somebody, he said it was for the destruction of the flesh so that the certain somebody could be saved in the day of Judgment.
It all seems foreign to us, but I think Paul believed that by giving somebody over to Satan we could actually call down a flesh destructive demon of some sort. However that may be, in his second letter he told the church to accept the man back into the fold because he had properly responded to his shunning. In Paul's second letter, there is no mention of the man's flesh being destroyed or hurt during the time he was pushed out of the church.
WHEN SHOULD WE JUDGE AND DISCIPLINE?
1. John believed that we should absolutely ignore and turn away travelling preachers who teach bad doctrrine when it comes to Jesus (2 John 1:10-11). In 1 John, the author tells us to test the spirits (preachers and teachers) to see if they are from God. In order to test the spirits, judging is necessary (1 John 4:1).
2. Paul told his churches to avoid people who started divisions (Romans 16:17-18). Paul likewise told his readers to test everything, and to hold on to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Once again, judging other Christians is imperative in this.
3. Paul also told his churches to reject heretics (people who follow or promote bad doctrine [Titus 3:10]).
4. Paul also told the Corinthians to shun a man who was sleeping with his step mom (1 Corinthians 5).
5. Finally, here is a list of Christians (not unbelievers) that we should stay away from according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
a. A sexually immoral person
b. A greedy person
c. An idolater
d. A slanderer
e. A drunkard
f. A swindler
THE GOAL OF DISCIPLINE
The goal of discipline was not to make enemies or turn people away from the faith. Rather, the goal was to help people to avoid sexual immorality, drunkeness, greed and so on. It was to help people to become better members of the community.
CAN DISCIPLINE GO TOO FAR?
Jesus gave a parable about a farmer who had an enemy (Matthew 13). The farmer planted good seed and his enemy came by night and planted tares to ruin his field. As the plants grew, the farmer could tell that his field had been messed with.
The servents who took care of the field wanted to pull out the weeds, but the farmer was afraid that if he had all the tares pulled out, good crop would likewise be destroyed. He concluded that it was best to allow them both to grow together until the harvest. During harvest, the separation could begin.
This parable was designed by Jesus to tell us that in community discipline, purging and purifying the group can go too far. As we get rid of the bad, good people will likewise be yanked out of the community. This happens in two ways. First of all, when church boards / community leaders get on the roll of throwing out the bad, they begin to fall into the mistake of seeing bad in the good. In other words, they go too far and before too long they are tossing out good people. The Salem Witchhunt was an extreme example of this. The second way that church discipline hurts a church is when the community leaders discipline (someone who does deserve it) there will probably be good people who are affected and will leave on their own.
Discipline in a church carries good and bad consequences. This not to say that we should not have discipline because there will be bad consequences; it is to say that we need to knowthe consequences, consider the consequences, and act wisely when we do discipline.
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