Characteristics of the Early
Church:Church Discipline
The discipline of sinners has in
large measure become a thing of the past in the Christian Church. Under the
plea of love, tolerance, and not judging (Matt. 7:1), just about any kind of
sin—except the "sin" of intolerance—is permitted in many local
churches. However, there are many passages in the New Testament that clearly
show God-given authority for discipline in the local church. For example, the
apostle Paul passed judgment on the man in Corinth who was committing
fornication, and urged the Corinthian Assembly to do the same (1 Cor. 5:3-5).
We shall now discuss the several different kinds and degrees of discipline
described in the New Testament, each designed to deal with a particular kind or
degree of sin.
Dealing with Those Who Have
Faults. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are
spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). This
particularly falls under the responsibilities of an overseer (see Jan.-Feb.
1999 Words of Truth). However, the person most responsible for going to
the erring one and pointing out his/her fault or sin is the one who is aware of
the offense.
The Lord might even use a child,
like Samuel (1 Sam. 3:11-18), to point out the sin of an older person. A
prison inmate serving a life sentence once told me of the time his pre-teen son
pleaded with him to stop his life of drugs and crime. He ruefully added that he
did not listen to his son, and shortly thereafter a botched burglary ended in
his committing a murder.
Why is "a spirit of
meekness" required in restoring such a one? And why does it say, "considering
yourself, lest you also be tempted"? Meekness is the attitude that
receives reproof or insult or injury without defending self and without
retaliating or avenging the offense. He who dares to confront one
"overtaken in a fault" to "restore such a one" must have a
very realistic view of his own past sins and his capability of sinning as much
as or more than the one he is seeking to restore. The restorer faces a very
real danger:the sinner may resent the intrusion into his business and may begin
throwing the past sins of the restorer in his face. If the restorer is not
possessed with meekness, he may totally ruin his opportunity to restore his
brother by responding to the attack in a defensive or even offensive and sinful
way. The ideal response may be, "Yes, you certainly are right about those
sins that I once committed. My life was a mess at one time. But the Lord has
restored me to Himself and has blessed me greatly and given me much peace and
joy. The reason I have come to you is because I want you to have the joy of
your salvation restored to you" (Psa. 51:12).
Dealing with the Unruly.
"Warn those who are unruly" (1 Thess. 5:14). The "unruly"
here are those believers who are neglecting their God-given responsibilities in
the home, at work, or in the assembly. It includes those who are not working
and are getting into other people’s business instead of trying to find a job,
doing volunteer work, helping others, or serving the Lord (2 Thess. 3:11,12).
Dealing with Heretics.
"A man who is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject [or
avoid]" (Tit. 3:10; also Rom. 16:17). A heretic is not necessarily one who
teaches wrong doctrine but one who tries to form a party or sect around a
particular doctrine or issue or himself. The best way for everyone to deal with
such a person is to avoid him as the verse in Titus tells us. Without any
followers after his cause, he will either leave and go elsewhere or be quiet.
Dealing with a Person Who Continues
in Sin. "If your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you
and him alone:if he hear you, you have gained your brother" (Matt. 18:15
JND). This may be either a sin that has been committed personally against you
or one that you have witnessed or been told of. So far this is like Gal. 6:1.
If your brother confesses his sin and stops doing it, your job is well done
and you need not carry the matter further. Or if he gives evidence that he was
misunderstood or falsely accused, the matter is over unless new evidence of his
wrong-doing comes to light.
"But if he will not hear you,
then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as
an heathen man and a publican" (Matt. 18:16,17). Here is the scriptural
procedure if the sinning brother justifies his sinful deed or continues in his
sin. It may not have been a huge sin—like adultery or stealing or being drunk
(1 Cor. 5:11)—to begin with. But if it is not confessed, it raises a barrier
between himself and the others in the church, as well as between himself and
God. If the sin is continued, he is behaving like "a heathen man" and
the local assembly has authority from God to put him out of fellowship (Matt.
18:18).
Dealing with an Elder Who Sins.
"Against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three
witnesses. Those who sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (1
Tim. 5:10,20). When an elder or overseer sins, the procedure given in Matt.
18:15-17 does not seem to apply. Because of the responsible position the sinner
occupies in the local assembly, his sin calls for public rebuke. At the same
time, if his sin is not confirmed by at least two or three witnesses, then the
matter should be kept quiet until there is sufficient witness.
Dealing with a Wicked Person.
"Put away from among yourselves that wicked person" (1 Cor. 5:13).
There once was a man in the assembly at Corinth, Greece who was committing
fornication. It was not an isolated act but a sin-pattern that was widely known
in the community (1 Cor. 5:1). Due to the public nature of this sin, the steps
of Matt. 18:15-17 were not applicable. Since the man remained unrepentant, the
entire church was to excommunicate him or deny Christian fellowship to him.
Such extreme action is not to be
limited to those who commit sexual sins. The apostle Paul writes, "Now I
have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother
be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat" (1 Cor. 5:12).
Excommunication for false teaching, such as concerning the person and work of
Christ, may also be called for if instruction, admonition, and other forms of
discipline fail (1 Tim. 1:19,20; 2 Tim. 2:16-21; 2 John 10; compare Gal. 5:9,10
with 1 Cor. 5:6,7).
How does a local assembly go about
deciding on and carrying out such discipline? A guideline is given in 1
Corinthians 5:"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are
gathered together" (verse 4). This expression "gathered
together" is the same in the Greek as that in Matt. 18:20. As noted in the
July-Aug. 1998 issue of Words of Truth, putting people out and receiving
people into fellowship is not the work of a clergyman, nor the work of a body
of elders or deacons, but the work of the assembly as a whole, as
"gathered together" "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The great value and power of assembly discipline and other assembly decisions
derives from being gathered around the Lord who guides their decisions
and ratifies them in heaven (Matt. 18:18).
Dealing with an Excommunicated
Person. How is the one who is excommunicated to be treated by others in the
assembly? There are two clues given in 1 Corinthians 5:"Deliver such an
one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh" and "with such a
one, no, not to eat" (verses 5 and 11). All kinds of social and spiritual
fellowship with the wicked person are to be avoided. He/she has behaved like an
unsaved person and is to be treated as such, only more severely because of
his/her profession of being saved. The sinner is made to experience the poverty
of soul and spirit that comes from having no fellowship in things pertaining to
God and His Word. (This may be what delivering unto Satan entails.)
There are differing opinions
(Scripture does not seem to pronounce on it) as to whether an excommunicated
person should even be permitted to sit in on meetings of the local assembly. If
such a person does come to meeting, the others in the assembly must be very
careful not to engage in social or spiritual fellowship with that person,
according to 1 Corinthians 5.
Restoring an Excommunicated
Person. The purpose of putting wicked brothers or sisters out of fellowship
is not to get rid of them. Rather, it is to help them to learn the seriousness
of the sin with sincere hope and prayer for their repentance and restoration to
the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20). To this end, while there is the avoidance
of fellowship with the wicked person, there needs to be continual prayer by the
assembly and periodic communication with him/her by one or more brothers in
order to ascertain true repentance and restoration to the Lord.
The Corinthian Assembly had to be
pushed by the apostle Paul to "put away from among [them]selves that
wicked person" (1 Cor. 5:13). When it became evident that the man had
sincerely repented of his sin, they again had to be pushed by Paul to
"forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed
up with overmuch sorrow" and to "confirm [their] love toward
him" (2 Cor. 2:6-8).
When the sinner has truly repented
of his sin and been restored to the Lord, it is time for the assembly to take
action to restore that brother and sister to full fellowship. But how can
sincere repentance of one’s sin and true restoration to the Lord be discerned
by the assembly? For this I quote another:"Thank God, there is a bright
side when, after [the assembly’s] faithfulness in the path of duty, there is
the joy of seeing the wanderer restored. We can almost feel the thrill of the
apostle’s gladness as he wrote of the recovered brother, `I am filled with
comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation’ (2 Cor. 7:4).
"Restoration is what was
prayed for, hoped for, expected. While one put away is to be let alone, this
does not preclude the thought of prayer for him, and looking after him after
the lapse of some time. Especially should this be done if he appears to be
bowing to the Lord’s judgment. Of course, those who put a bold face on it, or
who continue in sin, can only be left in God’s hands.
"Marks of true recovery are
very plain. There will be a sense of sin against God (Psa. 5:4), a
judging of the root of it, a submission to God’s governmental dealing, even
when undue severity may have been used by the saints. If there was trespass
against any, the wrong will be righted as far as possible—the dishonest gains
refunded and the bitter, false accusations withdrawn; also, we need hardly add,
the sin will be forsaken. Until there is restoration to communion with God
there can be no true restoration to the assembly. The steps in the
reinstatement of the cleansed leper (Leviticus 14) to his privileges are
instructive in this connection. It was the priest who was to examine the healed
man, and the various rites in his restoration are most suggestive of complete
recovery.
"It will be noticed that the
leper, even after his restoration to the worship of God, `remained abroad out
of his tent seven days’; it suggests that even after personal recovery an
interval may elapse before the person is restored to his privileges in the
assembly. There are many reasons for this:if the offense has been glaring or
disgraceful, it is fitting that the world should see the genuineness of the
repentance. It will not hurt, but deepen in the individual a sense of his sin.
In addition to this, it is well to remember that the tender consciences of the
saints have been sorely wounded, and the offender will gladly allow time for
the healing of the shock inflicted. Anything like insistence upon his immediate
reception after confession, or resentment at delay, would show that the work in
his soul lacks completeness.
"On the other hand, the
assembly needs to guard against a hard, unforgiving spirit. When the
consciences of all are satisfied, there should not be needless delay in
confirming their love to their recovered brother. `Sufficient to such a man is
this punishment which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise you ought
rather to forgive him’ (2 Cor. 2:6-8). How gracious, how loving, and yet how
holy, are these directions!
"And may we not add that when
the restored brother is again in his place, his sin is not to be remembered?
True, he will not forget it; but shall the others, by look or manner,
betray lack of confidence? Ah, we are too much like the world which `forgives,
but cannot forget.’ Neither can we say such a one must keep silence and never
again expect to be used of the Lord. It was Peter, the wandering sheep, who was
made a shepherd for others (John 21:15,17). When David was restored he would
teach transgressors God’s ways (Psa. 51:13). He will walk softly the rest of
his days, a chastened person, but a happy and a useful member of the body of
Christ." (From The Church and Its Order According to Scripture by
S. Ridout, Loizeaux, Neptune, NJ 07753.)
Preventive Discipline.
Perhaps some of the problems that call for church discipline might be avoided
if more care were taken in receiving brothers and sisters into fellowship in
the first place. "Lay hands suddenly on no man" (1 Tim. 5:22) is a
verse to consider in this regard.
Other aspects of assembly
discipline, including the question of what to do if the local assembly is
unwilling to take action in a matter calling for discipline, will be considered
in a subsequent issue.
Appendix on "Judge
Not." We have just described several different kinds of judgments to
be made by the church against sinners. So what does the verse mean that says,
"Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt. 7:1)?
Here are some suggestions as to
what we should not judge:
1. The context of chapter 6
is earthly riches. The preceding verse says, "Take … no thought for the
morrow" (6:34). The Christian who has (or thinks he has) forsaken all to
follow Christ should not stand in judgment on the believer who still is
wealthy.
2. We should not judge
motives or outward appearances (John 7:24; 1 Cor. 13:7). Rather, we should try
to give the most positive interpretation of a person’s action, unless there is
clear-cut evidence of sin.
3. We should not judge the
service of another Christian (1 Cor. 4:1-4), for example, thinking that my
service for the Lord is more profitable than my brother’s service.
4. We should not judge those who
feel free before the Lord to do something we don’t feel right about, nor should
the others judge us, provided it is a matter about which Scripture is silent
(for example, eating fish on Friday) (Rom. 14:1-5; Col. 2:16).
5. We should not engage in
any of the reproving and correcting activities of Matt. 18:15-17, Gal. 6:1,
etc., unless we are in a state of self-judgment before the Lord.