Church Discipline:
 

I was reading a very interesting chapter of a book. The chapter was about “church discipline”. It stated:

Implementing Church Discipline
A. Steps of church discipline
a. Scripture Matthew 18: 15-18: "If your brother sins against go and show him his
fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother
over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter
may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to
listen to them tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church,
treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."
b. The steps involve*
i. One on One shepherding
ii. Take two or three for additional witnesses and to give confirmation and
warning
iii. Tell it to the church
iv. Expulsion and handing the person over to Satan
* - Each step is to be handled carefully and prayerfully. Each case is unique and
should be handled on its own merits. The goal is to bring repentance and restoration.
The church's responsibility is to call the person back to his savior, then to forgive and
receive back the repentant one.
B. Response of the Church (2) The response of the church depends on the response of
the disciplined individual.
a. A person who is disciplined and leaves thehe assembly - Such a person must be
treated as an outsider or an unbeliever (Mt. 18:17). This person should lose all the
benefits of being in the body. Such a person does not have true fellowship with
God, and therefore should not have the privilege of enjoying fellowship with
God's people (I John 1:6-7). The only contact with these individuals should be for
the purpose of bringing them to repentance. However, if the person becomes
factious and divisive, there should be no contact with them to protect the flock
(Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10-11). The offending party must repent and show evidence
of repentance prior to being restored to the body (Luke 3:8).
b. A person who is disciplined but who does not want to leave the assembly - This
is a "so called brother." A person who does not want to repent of his sin, yet retain
the privileges of God's people. Such a person is dangerous, since they represent
"old yeast." This person can infect the entire assembly if left unchecked. The
Bible tells us to remove the "old yeast," that we may be a new batch without yeast
(I Cor. 5:6-7). The Lord instructs an assembly to treat very severely someone who
maintains their sin and at the same time professes to be a "brother." He is to be
expelled from the church. With such a man we are not even to eat (I Cor. 5:11-
13). He should be put out for the protection of the purity of the church and to
protect the testimony of the church. In fact, Paul instructs the church to hand such
a man over to Satan, so that his flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the
day of the Lord (I Cor. 5:5, I Tim. 1:20). The hope is for God to deal with the
offender in such a way so as to bring him back to repentance.
c. A person who is under discipline for being unruly In some cases, an assembly
may need to censure the behavior of a brother or sister. If such a person is unruly
or living a disorderly life, he is not to be associated with. The purpose of this was
so that the offending party might feel shame and come to his senses. He was not
to be expelled from the church like the sinning brother referred to in I Cor. 5. The
offense here is not as flagrant and therefore does not call for expulsion from the
church. If this discipline proves ineffective, ultimate church discipline could then
follow. (II Thessalonians 3:6-15)
d. Discipline of Non-Members - In some cases it is appropriate to discipline nonmembers.
A "so-called brother" who disrupts an assembly by his conduct or
teaching may be "marked out" for the protection of the church. Such a person
does not have to be an "official" member of the church to be marked out. Regular
attenders, who may not have committed themselves to the assembly fall into this
category. It may also be appropriate to "mark out" some radio preachers, T.V.
evangelists or self-proclaimed teachers. The discipline here is geared more for the
protection of the flock. False teachers and divisive people are to be avoided.
(Rom. 16:17-18; Titus 3:10-11)

I think this is a very good explanation of church discipline. I’ve not seen very much of “biblical church discipline” in my time. I’ve been verbally “rebuked” or told to “repent” by the pastor a couple times when my attitude wasn’t right… but I’ve never really been “disciplined” by the church, nor have I seen any Apostolic church I've been a part of seriously discipline anyone but once. Is biblical church discipline lacking in today’s church?

Also…now here comes the hard part of this post…

Have any of you ever faced legitimate church discipline until you were restored? How was it done? How did it affect you? How does it affect you now?

*Please share details with discretion. Don’t confess to a grave sin that you were disciplined for unless you have already brought it well into the open and you are capable of discussing it.

God bless,

Aquila

Re: Church Discipline:
 

I understand the steps but what exactly IS "church discipline"? Other than openly rebuking your or the pastor ripping you a new one in his office, how many churches feel they have the authority to dispatch punishment outside of the four walls?

"Your grounded! You cannot leave your home other than for work and church for four weeks!"

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Is being spanked by a Mother Superior considered church discipline ?

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Ha ha ha ha! Or whacked on the head with the blackboard pointer?

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Acquilla, if discipline is done the biblical way, then there usually is not a problem. But, in many cases, a brother or sister will not go to the offending brother or sister. They go to the pastor first. If a pastor takes a witness, it usually isn't from the group deemed to be the "least esteemed".

Re: Church Discipline:
 

I wonder, how exactly are you supposed to treat pagans and tax collectors? :hmmm

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Stone em!

Re: Church Discipline:
 

In our house churches people are to be denied the Lord's Supper, and in extreme cases asked to leave the private residence. But I've yet to see this in action.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

I assumed that in virtually all churches the punishment would concern church activities and attendance. But you know there just has to be a few UC churches out there where they attempt to cross the boundary at the door of the members home and dictate punishment inside the private residence. This is getting back to my partially TIC statement about the family being grounded from anything other than work and church attendance. I mean we already have some pastors who get a report on their members internet access.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

i wish to state that I do not know anyone here on the internet personally. So, if you say that I am lost no offense is taken. i may correct you, but this is just a fun site for me. Nothing more.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Yes, that is the correct why to discipline a repeat offender in sin.
1) One on one
2) In small group setting
3) Rebuke before all

I think most pastors will preach on the sin before even confronting the person anyways.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

This is what usually when the cat gets let out of the bag for the entire congregation anyways. LOL

"And now I need to speak a few words about the sin of missing church to attend a ballgame with a visiting relative from across the country........ Raymond!"

Re: Church Discipline:
 

LOL, well, I think you were at step 3..... You probably just missed steps one and two because you were hard headed!

Re: Church Discipline:
 

The method is not the blunt object that so many think that it is. Very often it is done in a quiet and in an unobtrusive manner. I have seen people removed from positions, but only on a very rare occasion it it ever needed to take it to that last level of actually expelling an individual from the assembly. It has happened, but it is reserved for the very worst offenders. Usually, an individual in rebellion moves on before it ever reaches this point.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

So is expelling a member from the church the worst that they can or should be allowed to do? Should a pastor have the authority to impose a month long curfew on a family, not permitting them to go anywhere to work and church (and maybe the occasional gas station and grocery store)?

Re: Church Discipline:
 

I had to admit that I was once kicked off my bible quiz team for the heinous crime of turning on the TV in a hotel room when we were at a meet. And he (the pastor) thought it was a punishment! (laughter)

Re: Church Discipline:
 

RW, I have never heard of such a thing, and I would be highly skeptical of any such claim. I suppose that there are those who might try that, but if they exist, I have never heard of any of them.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Well, it happened to me and three others. I'm not sure how to document it other than it happened to me (not some 2nd or 3rd hand experience) and my memory is pretty clear. I even remember being in the pastors office trying to feign 'horror!' at being kicked off the team. Anything LESS than a look of shear terror would have been like telling your dad as he was spanking you that "it didn't hurt!" and would have resulted in something truly worse.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Sorry, I should have been more specific (I think I asked another poster last month to specify). I was making a comment about the issue of a pastor telling his saints that they were under a curfew or restriction. The fact that he suspended you from the Bible quizzing team comes as no surprise. I have heard of preachers doing things like that.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

Ahhh, ok. I guess we got our wires crossed a bit. LOL Sorry.

Honestly if a church ordered curfew ever DID happen (and no doubt it most likely did) it is truly a rare experience probably effecting a dozen people TOTAL in the United States. So not something widespread other than the most Ultra Con of the Ultra Con churches.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

There is times when people in a congregation,need correction but it would be for serious things like immoral behavior,or someone trying to cause division in a congregation or something really major.

Re: Church Discipline:
 

I have heard of some pretty intense libs too. There are always going to be a select few in any bunch that are 'different'. I would say that if there are any practicing that type of thing, they are probably not affiliated with any group.