One of the misunderstood teachings in the Bible is the subject of church discipline. There are several reasons for this including wrong teaching on the subject, wrong practices in our churches, immaturity, and cultural influences. However, though often painful and heartbreaking, church discipline as taught in the scriptures is good and healthy. With all good things practised by sinful people, mistakes and misconceptions will abound. Here are four common misconceptions about church discipline.
These misconceptions make the practice of church discipline extremely difficult in the church.
1. It Is Only Punitive and Negative
Ask a group of Christians if they have ever undergone church discipline and awkwardness immediately fills the room. This is because church discipline is viewed as negative and punitive. In fact, the whole concept of discipline needs redeeming in our culture. People hear discipline and horrific experiences of corporal punishment from school or some brutal parental exhibition of anger flood their memories. If it is not a punitive action, then what is church discipline?
The whole concept of discipline needs redeeming in our culture.
In practising church discipline, the church is protecting the name of Jesus by intentionally ensuring they live out the truth of the gospel together. When thinking of church discipline, we should think of training one another (in the idea of school or university) and maintaining order in the church (the idea of raising children). This is both formative instruction (Romans 15:14); and corrective, restoring one who has strayed from the instructions (1 Corinthians 5:1-11).
2. It Is Unloving
The common belief is that whoever disciplines, corrects, or points out your sins is your enemy. Our warped view of love is that whoever loves you will support you and cover for your sins. Hence, the practice of church discipline as taught in the scriptures is counter-cultural. It goes against the fibre of our thinking. To point out the sins of a brother (Matthew 18:15-18) is considered uncaring. Our culture would rather you leave the person wallowing in their sins to their ruin. Now that is the very definition of unloving!
Our culture would rather you leave the person wallowing in their sins to their ruin.
Hebrews 12 teaches us that one act of God’s love is the discipline of his children. Friends who support and condone your sinful and foolish choices and actions in the name of love are wolves in sheepskin. They will ‘love’ you to your ruin. They do not care about your soul and would rather let you live a life that does not honour Christ.
3. It Should Only Be Practised on the Big and Harmful Sins
In African culture, sin is what brings shame to the community and not necessarily going against the teachings of scripture.
One prevailing misconception around church discipline is that only big and harmful sins should be confronted and dealt with; sexual sin resulting in pregnancy, theft of church monies, and murder, to mention only three. Whether the person is repentant or not, commit any of these and you are gone! This is because, in African culture, sin is what offends and brings shame to the community and not necessarily just going against the teachings of scripture. Therefore, in confronting someone about his or her greed, gossip or lying, you are considered as being overly difficult. So people will stubbornly and unrepentantly hold on to their sins and not be confronted and disciplined because the sins are considered small.
4. It Should Be Practised by the Elders
Another misconception is that the elders are the ones who carry out discipline. Therefore, the common practice is that when Brother A finds out that Brother C is living in unconfessed sin, they will tell Elder D to go and confront Brother C. Further, it is common practice in churches for the elders to simply inform the members that Brother C has been excommunicated.
The authority to excommunicate an unrepentant member lies with the congregation.
While this is convenient, it does two things. One, it undermines the authority and responsibility of the congregation. The authority to excommunicate an unrepentant member lies with the congregation (Matthew 18:17-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-11); and so does the responsibility to confront an erring brother. The other problem with the misconception is that it turns elders into investigators in the church, who are always chasing up what Brother A said about Brother C, seeking to gather evidence of whether it is true or not.
The Gospel Demands Discipline
The Christian life is corporate, coming together helping each other become more like Christ.
These misconceptions make the practice of church discipline extremely difficult in the church. A proper understanding of the gospel and its demands on the believer as well as a biblical understanding of the church is imperative if we are to practice healthy church discipline. The Christian life is radical. It calls for transformation. The Christian life is also a corporate one. It is a group of people coming together helping each other become more like Christ.
