Chapter 48: Lordship Matters - Authority to Administer Church Discipline

Administering discipline to defiantly unrepentant members of the church is a responsibility that is unpleasant, yet sometimes necessary.

It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning in these ways. ¹³God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you." 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (NLT)

No humble leader desires to use his or her authority in this way. Parents of small children have a similar responsibility to correct and discipline their children as needed. The failure to do so, according to the Bible, reveals a lack of love. Sometimes parents’ fear of alienating their children restrains them from carrying out their duty to administer discipline, which rarely produces good results. Likewise, if the church does not make a stand for purity and holiness, the leaven of sin may infiltrate and harm the entire church so that its testimony in the community may be severely damaged.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1 Corinthians 5:6–8 (NASB95)

Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.  1 Timothy 5:20 (NASB95) —

People are precious to the Lord; so, we must be careful to handle disciplinary situations in the best way possible, that is, the way the Bible instructs.

Just as a parent disciples a child in the hope of helping that little one become a responsible, God-fearing adult, the church should use discipline in a similar way to hopefully inspire the unruly one to repent and live in a way that will bring God more honor and them more happiness and fulfillment.

Jesus gave us the basic guidelines for handling conflict and unresolved sin issues in Matthew Chapter 18.

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. ¹⁷“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:15-18 (NASB)

Conflicts should be settled one on one if possible. Only if this fails should others be brought into the affair. After all avenues to bring about repentance and reconciliation have been exhausted, church leaders are responsible to use their God-given authority to disfellowship or excommunicate the offender.

This means the church only disciplines those who embrace a sinful lifestyle and refuse to repent, not those who simply struggle with some sin.

This requires leaders to prayerfully consider the attitude of their own hearts as well as the one who is under scrutiny regarding discipline.

In the final stage of church discipline, Jesus instructed us to treat the offender as a “Gentile or tax collector,” meaning that we consider them as someone outside the household of faith and blessing. Even though I am convinced that no one is beyond God’s love and care, functionally this is how we should treat them for their own good. Being excluded from church fellowship and functions should wake up the unrepentant one to the gravity of his or her sin.

A good guideline is that if the sin is private, correction can often be private, but if the sin is publicly known, the correction will likely need to be public as well.

Today the threat of excommunication (the barring from church fellowship and participation in the Lord’s Supper) has much less force than it did in the time when the Bible was written. Today recalcitrant individuals often withdraw (excommunicate themselves) from their local church before the leaders confront them and join another church, quite often with no questions asked by the new church’s leadership. The new church may open its arms wide, simply being glad to have someone new, without ever investigating if any problems may be trailing them. This is why it is such a good thing if church leaders in a geographical area have a good working relationship so that communication can take place in such cases.

When I was functioning as a lead pastor, when new people visited the church and showed an interest in joining us, I would talk to them about why and how they left their previous church. If there seemed to be any unfinished business, I would usually ask them to try to clear it up before joining us. Sometimes it would be impossible, but other times it was doable. Otherwise, the problems will likely be duplicated in the new church. If new people speak negatively about their previous church, it is a red flag. Quite often they will end up speaking ill of their new congregation, too, unless they resolve the issues. These are guidelines, not rigid principles. Every situation must be evaluated in its own light.

Paul gives us more insight into what it means for a person to be excommunicated in his first letter to the church at Corinth, where this took place.

But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 1 Corinthians 5:11 (NASB)

We learn a couple of things at least from this verse. First, Paul lists several sins that can lead to being excommunicated, not just what is usually considered, such as adultery.

Generally, we feel more comfortable confronting sins in others, if we personally do not struggle in that area. We may be harsh with others, but gentle with our own sins. It is important to strive to be honest and humble. We all are sinners in some area or another.

How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. Luke 6:42 (NLT) —

Secondly, we learn that excommunicating an unrepentant member of the church means much more than barring him or her from meetings. It prohibits other church members from having friendly fellowship with them, which some people call “shunning.” This may seem harsh, especially today when the world considers judging anyone to be morally repugnant, except of course when people in the world harshly judge the judgers. However, consider the alternative to this aspect of proper church discipline.

If church members continue to relate normally with someone who is rebelliously and publicly unrepentant, outsiders may conclude that the church winks at sin. The unrepentant one may conclude the same thing.

I know of entire families who no longer attend church meetings because of a past serious sin that their home church refused to confront.

The failure to properly administer church discipline may lead one to think that it makes no practical difference whether the sinner repents or not. Of course, God often directly chastens the sinner, regardless of what the church does. There are always consequences connected to sin.

Lastly, people in the church may be influenced to adopt similar sinful practices, seeing that there are no apparent negative consequences.

Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 1 Corinthians 5:6 (NLT) —

Therefore, for the sake of the unrepentant sinner, the unsaved, and those in the church, we must lovingly and responsibly administer church discipline.

One thing that makes discipline so difficult is that we all know that we too are guilty of sin. King David failed to properly discipline his son, Amnon, who raped his half-sister, Tamar, Absalom’s full sister. Because David also had committed adultery with Bathsheba and indirectly murdered her husband, it seems that he was somewhat paralyzed when it came to properly disciplining his own son. No doubt, another aspect of his inaction was that he was wearing two hats – king and father. He probably should have recused himself and let someone else disciple his son.

We sometimes fail to discipline others when we have not confronted the same sin in our own lives.

David’s previous sin combined with his failure to properly discipline Amnon for his sin, brought the king and the nation some horrific consequences. Absalom became deeply offended and bitter with his father and his half-brother and took matters into his own hands. He ordered his servants to kill Amnon for his crime against his full-sister, Tamar, and later instigated a full-blown rebellion and coup against his father King David, which resulted in great loss of life, including his own.

All of this fulfilled what was prophesied by Nathan at the time of his earlier repentance.

Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 ‘Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 ‘Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’ ” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”  2 Samuel 12:9–14 (NASB95) —

This illustrates that sin has associated negative consequences that we can experience even after repentance and forgiveness. God will forgive us if we repent, but the law of sowing and reaping is still in effect. Nothing good comes from failing to obey God, and this includes matters of church discipline.

In addition to preserving our testimony in front of an onlooking world, protecting other church members, and eliminating corrupting influences from the church, proper church discipline seeks to bring the offending party to repentance and eventual restoration.

Again, we turn to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. ²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. ³For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. ⁴In the name [authority] of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 (NASB)

When the offender is excommunicated, it removes him or her from the protective covering of the church. The reason for taking this radical step is to help the person to repent.

Just as the prodigal son “came to his senses” after he reaped the full measure of his folly, it is hoped that the same will take place with the excommunicated one.

This is exactly what happened in the church at Corinth.

Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, ⁷so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 2 Corinthians 2:6-7 (NASB)

In the above case, we see the best possible outcome and have modeled for us the correct attitude we must have when administering church discipline. Pride and self-righteousness will undermine the process and probably bring judgment upon us from God.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Galatians 6:1 (NLT) —

Let us never forget that all of us are completely dependent upon the mercies of God. However, we also cannot afford to succumb to the twisted logic of the world which would prevent us from judging at all.

In addition, we must be quick to forgive, if the sinner repents. In so doing we manifest our heavenly Father’s heart. Just as the father of the prodigal ran to meet his son at the first sign of repentance and returning, we too must be on the lookout for any signs of repentance and not be coolly aloof, demanding extensive proof of real change. Jesus told his followers to forgive far beyond what seems reasonable to us.

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Matthew 18:21–22 (NASB95) —

When it comes to quick forgiveness, as Abraham Lincoln advised, if we are to err, let’s err on the side of mercy. Thank God that He forgives us even though we continue to struggle!

A wonderful example of proper discipline is found in John Chapter 8. A woman was caught, probably trapped, in the act of adultery. The man apparently escaped or got a pass. Perhaps he was the setup person. Nevertheless, the woman was unceremoniously dragged publicly in front of the Lord in order to force him to choose between showing her mercy and affirming the Law’s command to stone adulterers to death.

The Jewish leaders demonstrate the very worst possible example of how to handle church discipline. They were harsh, unloving, and hypocritical. Jesus, on the other hand, was kind, merciful, and loving. The Jewish leaders wanted to embarrass her and treat her poorly. Jesus was never disrespectful, even as he lovingly confronted her sin and challenged her to repent. The Jewish leaders condemned her, but our Lord did not. As a result, she was salvaged and set free from her sin. I encourage you to read the passage and think deeply about it.

The heart attitude of those who confront sin will make all the difference. When people witness proper church discipline, it encourages them to be honest about their own sin. Harshness makes hypocrites of us all.

The authority to administer church discipline resides in the eldership of the local church. However, we all must participate in this ministry to one degree or another. Jesus made it clear in Matthew Chapter 18 that we all have a responsibility to confront evil. Paul challenged us to always act with humility and the fear of the Lord.

When the truth is spoken in love, it allows us to be direct without causing undue damage. If we are harsh, it may create problems beyond what already exists.

If we are faithful in this responsibility, we may help someone escape the clutches of sin and in so doing preserve many from its degrading influence as we keep our testimony pure before the world.

My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, 20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.  James 5:19–20 (NLT) —