Discipline?

Church discipline.

Church discipline. In 1 Co 5, Paul expresses shock because the Corinthians were passively accepting sexual immorality. Looking at one specific case, Paul wrote, "I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present" (v. 3), and he goes on to command, "When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus ... hand this man over to Satan" (vv. 4-5). The believers are "not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother" and consistently practices sin; Paul says, "With such a man do not even eat" (v. 11). How does this teaching square with the many NT passages that tell Christians not to judge one another? The answer is found in the affirmation of Scripture that God is the ruler of the universe and is the final moral arbiter. He, the Judge, had already announced his verdict on the practices of which Paul was writing. He had identified these practices as sin. What the church is called on to do is to agree with God in the divine assessment of the actions of this one who "calls himself a brother." As a community, the church is to "expel the wicked" from its fellowship (1 Co 5:13). Condemning someone by calling into question that person's motives, actions, or personal convictions is vastly different from accepting God's verdict that certain actions are sins and that those who practice them must be ostracized. A number of aspects of NT church discipline help us understand Paul's insistence that the immoral person be expelled.a. What necessitates discipline is an individual's choice to practice what the Bible identifies as sin. We may fail often and come to God in confession. For this there is no call for discipline. Discipline is applied only when a person refuses to acknowledge that his practices are sin and refuses to change his ways. b. The goal of church discipline is restoration. In the case mentioned by Paul, the "punishment inflicted on [the offender] by the majority" (2 Co 2:6) was sufficient, and the guilty man repented. Paul then called on the Corinthians to accept him back and "to reaffirm" their love for him (v. 8). c. The rationale for church discipline is found in spiritual reality. Sin in fact alienates from God, cutting off the individual from fellowship (1 Jn 1:6). In church discipline, the body of Christ acts out this spiritual reality in its relationship with the sinner. A person expelled from the local community senses the fact of lost fellowship. d. The occasion for church discipline is moral fault: the practice of sin. The church is not permitted to discipline for other deviations. Difference in convictions or even doctrinal differences do not call for church discipline. It is only the consistent practice of sin without acknowledgment of the fault that occasions discipline. e. The responsibility for church discipline rests on the local Christian community. Mt 18:15-17 is generally understood to outline a process that Christians should follow. An offended person should approach the sinner and explain the fault. One or two members of the congregation should go with the first member if the sinning saint refuses to listen. The whole church is to be informed if the individual still refuses to listen. Then the person is to be ostracized. This joint responsibility is reflected also in Corinthians, where Paul writes of expelling the sinning person when the church is "assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus" (1 Co 5:4). Exercising church discipline is very different from adopting the judgmental and condemning attitude against which Scripture speaks. In church discipline we see the loving action of the Christian community, committed to obedience, intending through the discipline to help the brother or sister turn from sin and find renewed fellowship with the Lord. The NT helps us make distinctions about judging that have an important impact on our interpersonal relationships. God has established human government and assigned it judicial functions relating to criminal acts in society (Ro 13). But God has not given believers any right, apart from Scripture, to examine or condemn other persons. No one but God is competent to measure motives or to establish convictions for others. Jesus is Lord and, as God, he is able to discern rightly. Thus we are freed from the responsibility of judging others in these areas. We can instead relate to them in love, with acceptance, and freely extend forgiveness. We are not burdened with the responsibility of punishing others or of forcing them to conform to our notions of what God desires. God will judge--at the appointed time (1 Co 4:5).