Thoughts on Obedience and Discipline

On July 10, 2007, I wrote an article on sharing one another’s burdens within the context of the Church. In the article, I tried to make it clear that obedience and discipline were needful, not because of church rules, bylaws, regulations, traditions and such like, but rather because according to the Bible, we are our own mutual support system: we belong one to another.

Recently, this issue has come up again with even greater force and this time has it has caused me to reflect more on the “discipline” aspect rather than on sharing burdens. At the outset, let me clarify that I am in no way a disciplinarian. I believe that discipline, when it becomes necessary, already is an indicator of failure; that something has gone seriously out of whack and should not have gotten to the point where discipline must be considered a solution. It may mean that the congregation has fallen down on its duty (and privilege) to support and assist an offending brother or sister or it could be that the unrepentant nature of the offender has made discipline the only option. But discipline, in my view, is always an indicator of a situation that has been allowed to grow and fester to the point where encouragement, gentle admonishment and even mild rebuke are no longer effective, as they should be.

Having said all that, I also believe that when discipline becomes necessary, it should be appropriate, just, decisive and swift.

Discipline is administered for three basic reasons: to restore the wayward offender; to prevent the sin/s from infecting others in the congregation; and to protect the purity of the Church and the honour of Christ. It should never be administered as punishment or as a response for anger or resentment caused by the offending person.

Restoration and Reconciliation
Since sin always causes division and strife within the congregation, it tends to destroy fellowship among believers. Without fellowship, reconciliation becomes virtually impossible. Consequently, a primary purpose of church discipline is to restore the offender to right behaviour (if not right attitudes) and to reconcile him with his brothers and sisters so that fellowship may again flourish. Often, it is only necessary for one person to discuss the matter with the offending party. If the situation is still in its infancy, it is relatively easy to show the offender the error of his ways and so restore a right relationship. (This is not usually possible in the case of egregious sin such as self-chosen adultery.) However, if brothers and sisters are not quick to see and evaluate the problem, there is a good chance it will grow to the point where discipline is required. This is one reason why our intersessory prayers for one another are so important. With prayer and loving, tangible concern, it is often the case that an erring brother or sister can be reconciled and restored. However, I must stress the tangible concern aspect. As James reminds us in a slightly different context, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:15-17). Surely the same principle holds true for a brother’s suffering because of his sin as from a lack of food. And if this is so, then we are under the same constraints to do him well, not only through prayer, but through action motivated by love, working through faith.

Sinful Infection
“You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst….Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened” (1 Cor. 5:2, 6-7b).

There are two aspects to the prevention of sinful infection that need to be considered. First, there is the possibility that as a result of complacency or apathy within the congregation, the same sin affecting the original party, could, if left unchecked, infect others within the congregation causing them to sin in a similar fashion or degree, leading to a kind of tacit group approval to the sin and the consequent effects that grow from it. This often leads to an entrenched assumption that the original sin was not really so bad and that perhaps we (as a congregation) should just turn a blind eye to it and pretend that everything is alright and that we really are a biblically faithful church after all. This is terribly destructive and it is through such inaction caused by fear and apathy that Satan gets a firm grip on a group of believers, sowing discord and anger as he goes.

Purity and Honour
Even though we are fallen sinners and are not free of sin’s terrible effects, we must, as born-again believers and the people of God’s covenant, strive to bring honour and glory to Christ, and therefore to his Church. We do this through our praise and worship of Him, but we also do it through the protection of right doctrine and biblically warranted practice. When a so-called believer persists in evident sin, even to unbelievers, this brings dishonour to Christ. Did not Paul say, “…just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph. 5: 25-27, emphasis added).

Christ did not die as a penal substitute upon the cross so that His Church could ignore His sacrifice for her and so defile this supreme act of compassion and love. He is the head of the Church, and her character reflects upon His character and reputation. How often has God chastised His people—the Church—for bringing dishonour to Him, “They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the harlot, but not increase, Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD” (Hosea 4:10). Any congregation that is wayward in her duty to discipline an obviously erring brother or sister is inviting judgement and is as guilty of defaming Christ and His gospel as is the offending member.

Christ’s Church does not have choice of never using discipline. She must always be ready to administer discipline for her own self-preservation for if she is unable or unwilling to do so at need, she is guilty of watering down her standards, those standards which are her portion and inheritance from Christ and the Holy Spirit, who is the true author of the same scriptural standards (2 Tim 3:16). This has largely been the case with the Church in the modern west. As we get farther away from our belief in absolute standards, we automatically lose the courage and conviction to uphold those same standards. Before you know it, the congregation has become infected with worldliness and has lost her authority. How can anyone believe that such a state of affairs is honouring to God?

But what sin merits discipline? Basically, any sin, once outwardly or publicly known, merits the exercise of discipline to one degree or another because Christ has been dishonoured in the sin or in the complacency of the congregation in not dealing with it decisively (and perhaps courageously). In biblical churches, it is the responsibility of the elders to actually carry out the discipline. If they are not willing to do so, they become part of the problem and are then as guilty of dishonouring Christ’s name and reputation as the sinning member and themselves will become answerable (1 Tim. 5:19-21).

So may we allow for evident sin to flourish within our congregations? Absolutely not! It is our duty and privilege to uphold those standards of righteousness that have been given to us in the Church in order that we may bring honour and glory to Him who died on our behalf, so that we might be presented to Him without blemish or spot. Therefore “let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7).

Soli Deo Gloria