Common Questions Related To Church Discipline

Pastor Tyson Ochsner provided some very helpful pastoral wisdom regarding the questions and concerns we often hear from church members about church correction and discipline (what we refer to as hard love). I am convinced that if this short post is read carefully, with a teachable mind and heart, then it will be very beneficial to those who are struggling to embrace and obey the commands of Jesus found in Matthew 18:15-17. The following are Pastor Tyson’s written comments.

Church discipline is removing a person from membership in the church and from partaking in the Lord’s Supper. This removal only happens as a last resort, when all other efforts have been exhausted to bring about repentance and restoration.

Church discipline indicates that the church can no longer affirm that person’s profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord because of their outward, serious, and unrepentant sin.

Church discipline is intended to help bring about repentance and restoration, to protect others in the church from being led into sin, to preserve the church’s witness to the world, and to honor Christ.

SOME COMMON QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS RELATED TO CHURCH DISCIPLINE:

• Aren’t we all sinners? Do we all need to undergo church discipline?

Yes, sadly, we all sin, even after we have come to believing in Jesus (1 John 1:8). But Christians hear and respond to calls to confess their sin and turn from it. Those calls may come from: the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scripture; a brother or sister in Christ; a small group of brothers or sisters; or the church as a whole. Only those who actively refuse those calls and willfully persist in their sin are subject to the final step of church discipline that requires removal from the local church (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:13).

• Aren’t we supposed to show grace and love?

Yes, we must do everything in love (1 Cor. 16:14). Church discipline should always be an act of love toward God and others. But grace does not excuse sin. Grace is the way God deals with sin so that we do not receive the wrath of God. “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” (Gal. 6:1) “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and how nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy but warn him as a brother.” (2 Thess. 3:14-15)

• “Won’t this make it harder for the person to come back?”

Perhaps this will make it harder, or perhaps this might be a step in the process God uses to bring this person back. As Paul wrote, “…deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 5:4-5) Before and after church discipline, we should all remain prayerful and hopeful for the person’s repentance and reconciliation. (2 Cor. 2:6-8; 2 Cor. 7:9) The disciplined person may still come to our church gathering, but we should continue to focus on calling them to repent and evaluating the evidence if they say that they have repented.

• “I have never been a part of a church that has done this.”

Yes, many of us have little prior experience with hard love and church discipline. What joins us together is not not our prior experience, but our commitment to trust Jesus and obey His word. (Matt. 7:24) “And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matt. 18:17) This is a command and if we are going to love Jesus (John 14:15) by obeying all that He commands (Matt. 28:19-20), then we must also obey the commands of Matthew 18:15-17.

• “What if the unrepentant person decides to leave and remove their membership?”

Church membership is not a unilateral decision. It is a commitment between the individual who professes to trust and follow Jesus, and the the body of believers to which they are committing. Based on the recommendation of the Elders, the congregation has the initial say as to whether the professing believer will be received as a member. The congregation also has the final say and authority as to whether an unrepentant member is to to be removed. (Matt. 18:17) Love and care for one another is the responsibility of the whole congregation. Accepting responsibility to be our brother’s keeper (Gen. 4:9), encourages each member to practice self-examination (2 Cor. 13:5), so that we will not give in to the temptation to practice sin. (Gal. 6:1)