A few of my eighth-grade friends were up to no good one Sabbath afternoon when I attended a Seventh-day Adventist elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraska. They stopped by my house, less than a mile from our school, and invited me to hang out with them. I joined them, and we walked to the academy gym (which was down the hill from the elementary school).
One of the doors to the gym was broken—it would not lock properly. We knew that with two hard tugs, quickly executed one after the other, it would open without a key. So we went to the gym door, opened it easily, and went inside the gym. While we were in there we raided the school’s kitchen and helped ourselves to some soft drinks. After a short time we left uneventfully. By early that next week word had gotten out, and we were busted.
What is the loving thing to do when kids break the rules in a school setting? Discipline. If I remember right, I got an in-school suspension for two days for breaking into the school and stealing some pop.
I am not proud of myself or my friends for what we did. We undoubtedly deserved the punishment we received. The school disciplined us, and that was the loving thing to do. Disciplining children and teenagers is necessary at times. Similarly, God disciplines His children.
Solomon writes, “For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:12).1 Paul emphasizes the same point by quoting Solomon, saying, “ ‘. . . for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines’ ” (Heb. 12:6). Clearly, love and discipline are closely connected in Scripture.
In the midst of God’s message to the church of Laodicea, God’s love and discipline are once again mentioned: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19). God is calling His people to submit themselves to His discipline, acknowledge and confess their sins, and repent (i.e., turn away from sin). If they do, God will “abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7).
That is redemptive discipline—discipline for the purpose of salvation. God does not discipline His people to condemn them to hell; He disciplines them because He loves them and wants to save them from the wages of sin, which is eternal death.
God disciplines and corrects His people because He loves them and wants what is best for them. Many parents discipline their children for the same reasons. The purpose of God’s disciplining His people is to develop in them a character that reflects His perfect character.
Both the Old and New Testaments teach that God disciplines those He loves. Certainly God can discipline His people directly, but does He ever use His church to discipline His people?
First Corinthians 5 describes a difficult situation faced by the church in Corinth: a man had an incestuous relationship with his father’s wife, which was a crime punishable by death in the Old Testament (see Lev. 20:11). We can learn several things from Paul’s counsel to this church:
Church discipline must be done with the right spirit: deep concern for the spiritual condition of the person living in open sin (1 Cor. 5:2).
Church discipline is done under the authority of Jesus Christ by church members when gathered together (verses 4, 5).
The goal of disciplinary action is redemptive—leading the person to be saved in the end (verses 5).
Let’s take a closer look at each of those points. First, church discipline must be done with the right spirit. First Corinthians 5:2 mentions “mourning” (NLT)2 when it describes the church’s attitude toward the person living in rebellion against God who will be separated from the church family. When church discipline is needed, the church should mourn for the person who is departing from God’s revealed will.
Second, church discipline is done under the authority of Jesus Christ by the members of the church when they gather together. Church discipline is not to be done by just a few church leaders. The pastor and church board are not to make the decision by themselves. Instead they are to bring the matter before church members in a business meeting.
Third, the goal of the disciplinary action is redemptive—leading the person to be saved in the end. Paul undoubtedly taught that church discipline is necessary. When the person living in open sin is separated from the church family and “delivered to Satan,” it is done so that the individual will repent and be saved. Church discipline, done right, is redemptive discipline, leading a straying person to return to God with a repentant heart.
Jesus Himself teaches about church discipline in Matthew 18. Here is how He says the process should work:
You go to erring members individually (verse 15). If they do not listen, proceed to step two.
Bring another member or two along to address the situation (verse 16). If they do not listen to the two or three witnesses, proceed to step three.
Bring the matter to the church to decide (verse 17). If they don’t listen to the church, they have chosen to separate themselves from Christ’s body; therefore, they are to be treated as a heathen or tax collector. And how are God’s people to treat heathens and tax collectors? We are to love them and try to lead them to a saving relationship with Jesus. Church discipline, done right, is redemptive discipline.
I can see two ditches we need to avoid.
Ellen White is spot-on when she writes, “If the erring one repents and submits to Christ’s discipline, he is to be given another trial. And even if he does not repent, even if he stands outside the church, God’s servants still have a work to do for him. They are to seek earnestly to win him to repentance. And, however aggravated may have been his offense, if he yields to the striving of the Holy Spirit and, by confessing and forsaking his sin, gives evidence of repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed to the fold again. His brethren are to encourage him in the right way, treating him as they would wish to be treated were they in his place, considering themselves lest they also be tempted.”3
I can think of two main objections concerning church discipline. Some will quote John 8:2-11 and Jesus’ statement to the woman caught in adultery, that whoever was without sin should cast the first stone. Others may quote Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (NKJV).4 Here are some answers to these genuine objections considering the larger biblical context.
Does the story of Jesus showing mercy to the woman caught in adultery nullify Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings concerning church discipline? Certainly not! The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary suggests: “Jesus is not stating a general principle, one that would make absolute sinlessness the necessary condition of fitness for taking part in the punishment of guilt. This would nullify law, for no one fitted to carry out the execution could be found.”5
Jesus practiced redemptive discipline with the woman caught in adultery. He did not condemn her; He saved her physical life from the death penalty. He also invited her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11, NKJV). That is what redemptive discipline does: it calls people to leave their life of sin and find forgiveness and cleansing in Jesus.
What about Matthew 7:1, in which we are challenged not to judge others? A careful reading of the context suggests that Jesus is referring to judging people’s motives. We cannot read minds and hearts. However, the text is not saying that we cannot judge whether people’s actions are right or wrong. On the contrary, concerning the incestuous man in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul said he had “alrea
dy judged . . . him who has so done this deed” (verse 3, NKJV).
God calls the church to discipline straying members lovingly and in a redemptive way, so that they can be won back to the Savior. Church discipline, done right, is redemptive discipline.
Ellen White reveals the proper balance when she writes, “To hate and reprove sin, and at the same time to show pity and tenderness for the sinner, is a difficult attainment. . . . We must guard against undue severity toward the wrongdoer, but we must also be careful not to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. There is need of showing Christlike patience and love for the erring one, but there is also danger of showing so great toleration for his error that he will look upon himself as undeserving of reproof, and will reject it as uncalled for and unjust.”6
I see two ditches we need to avoid. One ditch is having “undue severity toward the wrongdoer.” The other ditch is “[losing] sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.” I pray for the right balance in my life and in my church—a balance that hates sin but loves the sinner.
And I pray for my church, that collectively we may receive divine wisdom to be agents of redemptive discipline.
