Church Discipline

Introduction. (Matt, 18:12-14) Jesus’ words in this text form a beautiful picture of Jesus as the loving Shepherd going to the extreme to rescue His lost sheep. One of the first Bible’s I ever had as a child had a picture of Jesus carrying a lost lamb on his shoulders. If you are like me, this image probably calls to mind the importance of bringing others to Christ. We picture the lost sinner, like one of those lost lamps, and imagine teaching that person the truth so that he or she might obey the gospel. This text certainly applies to that goal, but that’s not really the immediate focus in the context. It has been said, “Priority is a function of context” (Stephen R. Covey). So the context of something shows us the focus.

Context of the Passage

·         Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (Matt. 18:1).

·         Discussion about children (Matt. 18:2-6). “Of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14).

·         Causing “little ones to sin” (Matt. 18:7-10). There is some question here about whether Jesus is just talking about children as “little ones” or including weak, vulnerable, and struggling disciples. I think He is talking about both.

·         Why Jesus came (Matt. 18:11).

So, the context would show us that the focus of the text is on doing all that can be done to avoid laying a stumbling block that could lead towards sin before either the child as he matures, or the Christian who struggles. That is moving!—because in this same context Jesus continues with the following words (Matt. 18:15-20).

            Does that shock you? Is this how we usually think of this? In the context of talking about rescuing “lost sheep”—avoiding causing these “little ones” to sin, Jesus teaches one of the most difficult procedures that it a part of our relationship with one another in Christ—church discipline. The context is the same. In fact Jesus will go on to teach about forgiveness and how willing we must be to forgive if we hope to receive forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-35). What that tells us is that the aim of even this procedure is to “seek and save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). We need to understand this. This morning let’s look at the gospel teaching on church discipline to understand how (as my uncle Wayne Partain puts it) it is a part of the plan of salvation.

I. Three Key Texts. Let’s look at three key texts and then consider what the Lord teaches us on this subject.

·         The “Lost Sheep” Context (Matthew 18:15-20). We have already read this, but let’s remember it comes in the context of teaching on rescuing lost sheep and avoiding offense to others. We’ll return to this later in our lesson.

·         To the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Here Paul addresses a specific instance of public sin that was tolerated and commands a course of action.

·         To the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Here Paul is talking about a group of people or “some” among them behaving in this way but teaches a general procedure to address different kinds of sins.

II. The Teaching Analyzed. Having looked at these three texts, let’s carefully analyze what this teaches us about the motive, practice, and objective of this procedure.

A.    When should this happen?

1.      Unrepentant sin—not just any time any Christian sins.

·         In Matt. 18:17 this is one who “refuses to hear the church.”

·         In 1 Cor. 5:1 the man “has his father’s wife.”

·         In 1 Cor. 5:11 “anyone named a brother, who is...”

·         In 2 Thess. 3:6 “every brother who walks disorderly.”

·         Luke records either similar teaching on a different occasion or a summary of what Jesus taught in Matt. 18:15-20 in these words (Luke 17:3). After this he records teaching similar to that offered to Peter in Matt. 18:21-22. Matthew and Luke together show us we are not talking about action meant to punish a person even though they have repented and turned from some sin, but unrepentant sin.

2.      When rebuke and opportunity to repent has been given.

·         In the letter to Thyatira in the book of Revelation Jesus speaks of a sinful woman he had “given time to repent” (Rev. 2:21). There seems to be a similar principle taught in matters of church discipline.

·         In Matt. 18:15-17a great effort is to be offered to keep the matter private and to work towards restoration.

·         We are to work towards restoration (Gal. 6:1-2). This is tough work. It takes effort. It takes love, but it must be done.

·         Note: In Matt. 18:15 the majority of manuscripts say “sins against you”—a few say simply sins. This leads to the question of whether this outlines a procedure for all sin—or simply interpersonal private sins?

3.      Public vs. Private sin.

·         Matthew 18:15-20 certainly outlines a procedure to work towards restoration, and to keep a matter private, but is it always required?

·         In 1 Cor. 5 and 2 Thess. 3 Paul says nothing about prerequisite steps. Had they already taken place? Perhaps, but notice in these cases these are sins that were already known to the congregation.

·         Corinth seems to have tolerated this sin in that they were “puffed up” (1 Cor. 5:2) and “glorying” (1 Cor. 5:6) in it.

·         Thessalonica was either ignoring it or doing nothing about it—“some who walk among you” (2 Thess. 3:11).

·         In these cases there may have been some rebuke (as there should always be when there is sin) but the public nature of the sin would make one person going, then 2-3 going, then the whole church going pointless.

·         What if the unrepentant sinner refused to speak with anyone? Would the church’s “hands be tied” from taking action? No.

B.     What does it involve?

1.      Not rudeness, hateful words, or corporal punishment.

·         “Do not count him as an enemy” (3:15).

·         Restore “in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Christians can’t be ugly to the struggling sinner. They must be patient, and kind.

·         This is not an “Inquisition.” This term calls to mind the Spanish Inquisition in which people were tortured, and even put to death (supposedly) in an attempt to purge them of wickedness and sin. That is not what church discipline is!   

2.      Withdrawal of social contact.

·         “Let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17). The Jerusalem Talmud taught, “A religious man, who becomes a publican, is to be driven out of the society of religion” (Demai 23.1, Lightfoot).

·         “Deliver such a one to Satan” (1 Cor. 5:5a). Because of the unrepentant attitude of the sinner, he is no longer to be viewed as one who belongs to God—he is delivered over to Satan.

·         “Not to keep company with…” (1 Cor. 5:9).

·         “Withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly” (2 Thess. 3:6).

·         “Note that person and do not keep company with him” (2 Thess. 3:14).

·         “Not even to eat with such a person” (1 Cor. 5:11).

·         This is painful. It leads one to “be ashamed” (2 Thess. 3:15); it is a type of “punishment” (2 Cor. 2:6); that is considered “the destruction of the flesh” (1 Cor. 5:5b).

3.      “Disfellowship” is not a scriptural term. This term is used commonly among brethren in spite of the fact that it is never used in Scripture. It reflects a misunderstanding of fellowship in the Gospel (Phil. 1:5) as social contact. John defines “fellowship” as a bond of faith. Withdrawal does not sever this bond of faith, but is an effort to preserve it. The one who is withdrawn from is still a “brother” (2 Thess. 3:15).

·         A congregation doesn’t “bar the doors” to worship services from such a person, but the relationship is no longer the same.

·         If they led singing—this can’t happen until repentance.

·         If they said prayers—this can’t happen until repentance.

·         The normal joy we once felt in seeing them at services is not the same—if we speak to them it is to call them to repentance. 

4.      Congregational action vs. Action towards those outside of the congregation.

·         It is important to understand that this is the action of a local congregation—there is no such thing as withdrawal as it concerns the church universal.

·         A local church can be wrong in its action (3 John 9-10).

·         This doesn’t mean that one congregation ignores the actions of another, nor that the false teacher or unrepentant sinner who is not a member of our congregation should not be called to account for his error (Romans 16:17-18). Note: “note” and “avoid”—similar action but you can’t withdraw what you didn’t have to begin with.

5.      How must this affect family?

·         This is one of the most difficult questions about this whole issue.

·         Must family cut off social contact with one who has been withdrawn from?

·         No command of God ever requires the violation of another command (e.g. Woman silent in church 1 Cor. 14:34 but commanded to sing Col. 3:16).

·         Husbands and wives are commanded not to withhold intimacy from one another (1 Cor. 7:5)—can a mate “withdraw from” a mate and honor this?

·         Parents are commanded to instruct children in the “training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4)—does that ever end?

·         Children are to “honor” their parents (Eph. 6:2)—can they honor without social contact?

·         Bill Cavender puts it well, “A family has to deal with its own family members and is not necessarily bound by what a congregation has done" (10).

·         This does not mean that a family can simply ignore sinful behavior. Cavender continues: “A Christian cannot condone, and participate in sinful words, deeds, and conduct, as we walk by faith in this sinful world. Each family member will have to determine, for himself/herself, how we deal with misconduct in the family relationship, according to our personal knowledge of God’s will for us” (Cavender, Bill. “How Does Withdrawing Affect Family Relationships?” Truth Magazine 55.1 (Jan. 2011) 8-10).

C.  Why is this commanded?

1.      To produce godly sorrow leading to repentance. In writing to Corinth about either the situation from 1 Corinthians 5 or another case of church discipline, Paul wrote: (2 Cor. 7:8-12).

2.      To protect the flock. (1 Cor. 5:7-8).

3.      To restore the erring.

·         “Destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5).

·         Reaffirm your love to him (2 Cor 2:5-9).

Conclusion. One of the most unpleasant things I ever had to do as a parent was to spank my children. It meant that their behavior had been such that it needed to be corrected, changed, and punished. In spite of what the world says, the sting of a swat on the hands or bottom of a young child was not abuse, it was a temporary pain that shaped within my children a respect for authority, the awareness that they could not act a certain way, a motivation to avoid such behavior in the future, and a recognition that there are boundaries to our behavior. As unpleasant as this was for me as a parent, I know from experience and the testimony of Scripture that it is necessary to produce proper behavior (Heb. 12:6-11).

            It is little wonder that in a world that has developed such skewed ideas about the discipline of children, both in and out of the church, we struggle to see church discipline for what it truly is. People see it as “mean-spirited,” or judgmental. Churches have been sued by members who, in obedience to the gospel accepted other provisions of the plan of salvation, but don’t want to accept that their behavior demands this provision of the plan of salvation as well. Our prayer and hope is that such action is rare, and seldom necessary, but we must recognize that if (and when) it does become necessary it is God’s way of drawing souls back to Himself, while protecting those who have not wandered from the truth. May we believe that and be confident in the wisdom of God.