Church Discipline: Ignored or Abused 1 Cor 5:1-13
Paul and the Corinthians—Part Five[1]
Paul ordered the Corinthian church to exercise discipline. A man was sleeping with his stepmother (5:1). The Apostle commanded the man be removed from the congregation (5:5).
Church discipline is not a subject many churches desire to broach. The process can stir-up gossip and strife within the community. Yet, at the same time, as the late Jay Adams pointed out, it may very well have prevented
the wreckage of homes strewn across the land. Had discipline been in place and properly functioning, few of the marriage failures and the child/parent problems now facing the church would have occurred. They would have been nipped in the bud by lively, loving disciplinary action, dealt with summarily, and in most cases, coupled with good biblical counseling (which, remember, is an essential element in effective church discipline) would have been put to rest. Failure of church discipline as a viable function has led to chaos in the church. And this chaos, in turn, has led to every other form of difficulty and trouble.”[2]
The goal of church discipline is not just to “purge the evil doer from our midst!” but to spur the person under discipline to repentance. The prayerful hope is that the shunning of the person will hurt and provoke him or her to go to God, ask for forgiveness and then return to the community where they will be welcomed (5:5).
The problem is that we no longer have apostles overseeing a united church. If Paul kicked someone out of church, where could that person go? Today, however, the person under discipline will just check out a congregation across town where they will be welcomed without repentance!
A better scenario would have pastors of all churches ask newcomers from other churches if they were under discipline. For that to happen in our current climate, most church leaders would need a spinal transplant!
Yet, the abuse of church discipline has also been a scandal. Paul wrote,
Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. (1 Cor 5:5 NLT)
And then in 2 Corinthians, possibly about the same person,
I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overcome by discouragement. So, I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him. (2 Cor 5:5-8).
If any church leader takes any pleasure in confronting someone and then booting them, they should not be a church leader. True leaders would only find joy in welcoming back a repentant church member.
We must also remember that church discipline is always a last resort. Problems in the church should be settled in house and quickly (Matt 18:15-17).
[1] For the sake of time and space, I will rarely post my own translation along with the blog post from here on out. CCC members can snag them at church or message me and I will send them the translation.
[2] Jay E. Adams, Handbook of Church Discipline: A Right and Privilege of Every Church Member (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016).