Church Discipline, part 4

This week, let’s look at a few common objections to the practice of church discipline.

One of the most common objections is that we are not to judge others. This is usually quoted from Matthew 7:1 – “judge not that you be not judged.” It is true that Jesus is declaring a certain kind of judgment off limits, but not any and all judgment. One of the things that many fail to do is to read all of what Jesus says in this passage. He calls his disciples in this passage not to be hypocrites. He says in v. 5, “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” He condemns hypocritical judgment of a person who fails to deal with his/her personal sin before dealing with another brother or sister’s. It is also helpful to review Paul’s instructions to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13.

Another common objection is the statement, “God is love.” No one who believes in the practice of church discipline will deny the veracity of that statement. The bible declares that one of the expressions of God’s love is discipline—formative and corrective—in the lives of his children. Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.” The absence of discipline from the Lord actually reveals that the person is not one of God’s children.

One more common objection for this week is the humanistic perspective: “We’re all humans. We all make mistakes.” In one sense that might be true. However, when it is used in the context of a discussion on church discipline, it is usually delivered in such a way as to “excuse” the sinner from any responsibility for his/her sin with respect to the body of Christ and without any attempt at dealing with the sin by calling the person to confession and repentance from that sin as the bible instructs us to.

These are three common objections to the practice of church discipline. We will examine three more possible objections next week.

Church discipline, if done rightly, can be a beautiful process for the person caught in sin, for the church, and for the watching world to demonstrate the application of God’s holiness and His love in the life of the church.