The Vital Necessity of Biblical Church Discipline

By Mark W. Christy, PhD

In much of the contemporary Church, Christian love is often thought to be a loving toleration of others irrespective of whether their actions line up with Scripture. In these churches, the cardinal sin is typically the sin of confrontation whereby someone dares to rock the boat by uttering an unpopular truth or, even worse, directly confronting a fellow member who is clearly engaging in blatantly obvious sinful behavior. While many wish to uphold their own righteousness by not offering direct approval of the sin being committed, they nevertheless stand strongly opposed to another Christian applying the word of God (in the biblically correct manner) to a brother or sister by opting to confront them based on the Word of God (1 Cor 5:6-8, 12-13; 2 Cor 2:6; Heb 12:6, 11; 1 Pet. 1:16; Heb 12:11).

Despite the biblical admonitions that confirm the necessity of proper church discipline, many, if not most, American Christians are more concerned about the feelings of the person being held accountable (1 Cor 5:6-8). Instead of joining with the person who is advocating a return to the Word of the Lord, they either stand off to the side bewildered and puzzled by the display, or worse, they begin judging the admonisher based on all manner of extrabiblical guidelines. These false rules for holding members accountable include the assessment of the admonisher’s heart apart from any evidence of malice, his/her tone, his/her directness, the pitch of his/her voice (never mind the emotional distress that the admonisher is in while performing this biblical duty), etc. Despite the failure of the admonisher’s judgmental peers to exercise proper church discipline themselves, they never realize that they themselves, especially by judging the faithful admonisher, are heaping judgement on themselves because they themselves failed to discipline their fellow member either due to their unwillingness to deal with the emotional fallout, their ignorance of Scripture (which they give evidence against since they have the gall to stand in judgment), or their lack of concern for the holiness of God (Matt 18:17-18; 1 Cor 5:1-13; Gal 6:1; 2 Thess 3:6-15; 1 Tim 5:20; Titus 3:10; 1 Pet 2:11-18; 3:8-16; 4:1-4).

This opposition against those who would dare to demand proper discipline within the ranks of God’s supposedly holy people has essentially silenced most believers. That this is so should be evident by complete lack of any real church discipline within the minds of most current church attenders. Even so, some may have perhaps witnessed some sort of discipline, but unfortunately that discipline itself may have been directed at those who dared to ‘rock the boat’ and ‘upset the apple cart’ more so than any actual ‘chapter and verse’ violation.

In such an environment, only a precious few will likely dare to take their stand and demand that God’s Church return to the standard of holiness set forth in the pages of Scripture and rooted in the Person of God. Such a stand will certainly bring glory to God, even though it will likely prove costly at least at first for the brave soldier of Christ. Nevertheless, a proper instillation of church discipline will renew the church’s witness to the community as they will begin to reflect clearly the awesome holiness of God which sets them apart. By standing on holiness, struggling believers will be drawn back to the narrow path where they will find restoration and encouragement to continue rightly in the faith (Matt 18:15; Gal 6:1-2; 2 Thess 3:14-15; Heb 12:10-13; James 5:20). This constant and community-wide demand for holiness will lead to an upswell in the commitment to sound doctrine, which in turn will drive out false teachers (1 Tim 1:19-20; Titus 1:10-11, 13).

This commitment to God’s Word and the corresponding growth in holiness will also lead to a more faithful Christlike witness among other Christians and outsiders as well (2 Tim 2:2-10). For outsiders, they will see that a Christian’s biblically faithful and disciplined lifestyle offers proof to support the sincerity and truthfulness of their witness. By their righteous living, these faithful Christians fashion themselves into a living testimony (1 Pet 2:12). For other Christians, they will observe the Church’s commitment to discipline via its faithful parishioners, and this will cause them to develop a godly fear lest their actions prove their faith to be false. As 1 Timothy 5:20 declares, “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”

Beyond the effects of church discipline or lack thereof upon individual members, the church as a whole faces certain significant threats should obvious sin be allowed within its membership. By default, a church that fails to address sin loses its purity (1 Cor 5:6-7). As sin is left unchecked and continues to pollute the rest of God’s people, the Church will lose its power to live and teach victorious living among the brethren.

Defeated by sin, the power of the gospel being proclaimed by the Church will no longer be displayed as an actual powerful tonic for the eradication of sin. The growing absence of victorious living in the face of sin will ultimately lead to a decline in membership. This decline may be diverted numerically at times by all manner of gimmicks, but nevertheless it is sure to occur because the undergirding spiritual realities have left the Church devoid of a proper biblical, Christ-glorifying foundation.

At such churches, members may still attend, hoping to find their individual purpose so as to obtain some emotionalized, false fulfillment to give them a weekly boost. Even so, they will ultimately discover their self-centered goal for purpose in this life has led them far astray from the biblical call and purpose to be a Christ-glorifying, obedient witness who does not need to “be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (2 Tim 1:8).

In conclusion, the practice of church discipline, though largely unpopular and rarely witnessed in the modern Church, is absolutely vital to the health of the Church. While it is always best when individual Christians repent on their own, the church must be willing to confront those within their ranks who remain overtly committed to a life of sin. Furthermore, they must always encourage those who take the emotional bullet and stand against the forces of darkness by standing in the gap on behalf of the Church, its witness, and erring believers who need to address their sin.