Church discipline is the process of correcting sinful behavior among members of a local church body or a small Christian group for the purpose of protecting its members, restoring the sinner to a right walk with God, and renewing fellowship among the offender and those directly and indirectly touched by the offense. In some cases, church discipline can proceed all the way to excommunication, which is the formal removal of an individual from the fellowship and the informal separation from that individual.
In Part 1, we took a look at church discipline from 1 Corinthians 5, where a member of the church was sleeping with his stepmother. Then in Part 2, we examined church discipline regarding those who were lazy and got into everyone else’s business from 2 Thessalonians 3.
In 1 Corinthians 5, church discipline led to “excommunication” (vv. 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13). In 2 Thessalonians 3, church discipline led to “disassociation” (v. 14).
In 1 Corinthians 5, the outcome for doing church discipline led to “separation,” the removal of the sinner from the fellowship. In 2 Thessalonians 3, the outcome for doing church discipline led to “shame.” And since it is a Scriptural admonition to create an environment of shame to exist, it is sanctioned and empowered by the Holy Spirit Himself. We ought not to be afraid of doing both, carefully, prayerfully, thoughtfully, if we are really in favor of being obedient to God.
Now in this study (Part 3), let’s see what Jesus says about church discipline from Matthew 18:15-20.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Here are some key observations to dwell upon from the above text:
First, there is a proper procedure to follow.
If you have knowledge that your brother or sister is in sin, then you need to go to him or in PRIVATE. Do not broadcast it to others. Do not gossip about it. When you do, then you ought to be rebuked and taken to the side and counseled. A gossiper can just as easily be removed from the fellowship, if non-repentance persists, as one who is living in immorality can. When an immoral person is removed from the fellowship, it is to keep the poison from spreading onto others (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6-7). Well, the poison of a gossiper is just as damaging to the fellowship and ought to be seriously dealt with like manner.
If a private meeting with the sinner does not work favorably after several attempts, then you bring others with you who are called “witnesses” (v. 16), to witness the procedure and response of the sinner. Notice that the circle becomes a little larger – from private (between two people) to semi-private (between three or more people).
If after several attempts were made and does not work, then you are to open it up to more people which involves telling it to the church (v. 17). The news of the sin and the sinner is only spread at this third level. Too often before any steps are undertaken, the news has spread to everyone, many of whom do not need to know.
When gossip occurs and has taken control, expect there to be severe backlash and opposition from the sinner. Also expect more problems to arise and expect a breakdown in experiencing a sure remedy. Because gossip has gotten things out of control, a lot of mopping up must occur before even the first step is undertaken.
Furthermore, it would not be fair to go after the sinner who is, let’s say, living in immorality and not go also after the gossiper who was responsible to spread the bad news about it via the phone, text messaging or by word of mouth. If you go after the one, you must also (in order to be biblical and consistent) go after the other (if gossip is a problem).
Keep in mind that when Paul talked about dealing with a lazy person in 2 Thessalonians 3, he pointed out that one prominent reason not to associate with him was because he was going around and being a “busybody” (v. 11) which is another way of saying, he was spreading rumors and gossip around unto others because he had nothing better to do with his time. He was a trouble-maker while pretending to be God’s messenger.
Nothing will hamper the smooth and biblical flow of church discipline more than gossip. We tend to view immoral sins as more serious sins that need to be dealt with. But gossip is a sin of serious concern and not to deal with it is to show a complete lack of biblical discernment, a lack of love, and a clear failure to be obedience to the Lord.
End of Part 3A
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