Church discipline
 

There are several threads going strong about who-did-what-when-and-where-and-what-HQ-is-doing/isn't-doing-about-it so I thought I would post an article regarding the subject of church discipline and see what everyone thinks... along with the question...

Q: Does the following model of church discipline seem a better model than what is/has been followed among 'apostolic pentecostal' churches/organizations, and why/why not?

http://www.letgodbetrue.com/bible/ch...discipline.php

Please take the time to read the entire article and post your thoughts.

Re: Church discipline
 

Any model that is not based on the model put forth by the Word is no better than any other that man has tried. Having read most of the article (not all), it's clear that the author put a lot of thought into it. Unfortunately, the author falls back into the "pastoral authority" mistake made by many, in that, the pastor is the final authority over all matters of conflict resolution. This model is not born out by scripture, but does allow many to point fingers in judgment and then pass off any responsibility to reconcile with or restore the accused.

If we try things the Bible way, we'll most likely get Biblical results. The NT biblical model for the sin/offense/conflict-resolution/restoration is:

Biblical assumption 1 - the one who discovers the offense or sin, or is the victim of the offense, desires reconciliation and is willing to forgive. Otherwise, you have 2 sinners on your hands and both need to be admonished.

Biblical assumption 2 - the one who discovers the offense or sin, or is the victim of the offense stays engaged and owns the process. There is no bailing or passing off the problem. They are to marshal the process along until the problem is resolved.

1st, the individual closest (discoverer or offended party) attempts to reconcile one-on-one.

2nd, when the 1st attempt fails (for whatever reason), then elders become involved, but only 2 or 3. The biblical plan is to keep things contained, if possible, and focus on reconciliation. The elders accompany the individual and try to work things out.

3rd, if 1 and 2 fail, then the congregation is made aware of the situation and one final attempt at resolution is tried.

If each of these attempts ends in failure, then excommunication is the final step.

Reference: Matthew 18:15-17, Luke 17:3-4, Titus 3:8-11, 2 Timothy 2:25-26, Galatians 6:1-2