It is amazing to me the varied and usually hostile attitudes that develop when this subject is considered. I'd like to say I've heard it all but that usually means that I haven't. The experience has given my intestines a sympathetic reaction whenever I approach the study or discussion of church discipline. Even now my stomach churns like a washing machine on agitate. It is truly heartbreaking to hear that someone has come under the final stages of church discipline. It brings me to tears every time actually. I'd like to, for whatever reason, introduce what my studies on 1 Corinthians 5 have taught me.
Let it begin...
The Real Sin
In my NASB version 1 Corinthians 5 is titled Immorality Rebuked . Many of the sermons and commentaries I've read use some variation of that idea. This is the title the translators have decided to use but I think it comes up short as a good descriptor of the actual intent of the chapter. Clearly sexual immorality is the example given but I think that this particular immorality, any immorality, is the symptom of the actual problem that Paul is wanting the church to address. The issue is the unrepentant heart. The unrepentant heart cannot learn and it cannot grow and it cannot do those things because it cannot fellowship (1 John 1:6-7). The unrepentant heart can manifest itself through any sin and a short list is given later in the chapter. And typically those that find themselves on the receiving end of discipline wish that the list is exhaustive. I think it is clear that the list is giving an example of the actions of the unrepentant.
While many sermons and commentaries focus on the particular sin mentioned in chapter 5 we would do a serious disservice to ignore the weightier matter of unrepentance. A Christian is one who has given themselves to God as a sacrifice, ridding the old self, the flesh, and has put on a new man (Ephesians 4:24,Colossians 3:10) So it goes against all that is Christlike to hang on to our old ways. Seems pretty basic but there are those who apparently think that we are saved in sin and not from it.
So, if we have a brother who names himself a Christian and he acts continually in sin and shirks his responsibility to repent then it is commanded here in 1 Corinthians 5 (and Matt 18 and 2 Thes 3) to not interact with that "so-called" believer as we would those true to the faith, those who love God.
The Sin of the Church
Or, Your Boasting is Not Good
Here is another part where we arrogantly drop the ball just as the church in Corinth did. We still think we know better than God. I have been told by many Christians that they could never take part in disciplining someone out of the church. That is high arrogance cloaked in false humility. We sound like the serpent when we ask "Did God really say that we should put this person out of the church?" Let's just look clearly at what Paul is saying: vs 2 "Let him who has done this be removed from you"... vs 5 "You are to deliver this man to Satan..." vs 11 "...not to even eat with such a one"...vs 13 " Purge the evil person from among you". These are just the obvious ones. There are several other verses that are understood in their context. What is there to misunderstand about those admonitions? A common argument is that it is unloving to do this. Brothers and sisters, God is our standard of love. Discipline is love. Do parents not discipline their children? Does the state not discipline lawbreakers? How else is the church to handle the unrepentant? In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul has plenty to say about our ability to judge earthly and spiritual matters. To do less is abdication. Some people recoil in horror when they find that the disciplined person was announced from the pulpit at church, apparently not having read what Matthew 18:17 and 1 Corinthians 5:4,5 say, not to mention the times when Paul actually names names of those who have fallen away in his various writings. We have to be careful that our standard of holiness is not "higher" than Gods.
Another argument against church discipline is that by doing so we no longer have a positive influence over the unrepentant. This is more arrogance. I assure you that we have much less influence when we are disobeying God than when we are obeying God. Who is the one that gives salvation? Clearly it is not us. Discipline is the point we hand over the unrepentant to Satan for the destruction of his sin (1Cor5:5) so that his soul may be saved. To not discipline is to aid and abet when affliction is needed. Don't muddle in the Holy Spirits business. He is much more qualified than you.
Recovering the Repentant
This is everyones favorite part. Those that wish not to take part in disciplining want a false version of this fellowship. The repentance of a fallen brother or sister is a time of great celebration and also a beginning of, if not the return to, serious discipleship. Trust must be restored. Slipping back into sin can happen but if the restored individual quickly confesses and runs back to the safety of the church and his disciplers encouragement should be just as quick.
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This is a short version of several rough drafts that I have written. Honestly, I feel like I could write a small book on this subject. I find great comfort in knowing that my church does disciple and discipline and I wouldn't be a part of a church that doesn't actively do both. In fact a church isn't a church that doesn't do both. It is just a religious club. So what do you do if you are a leader of one of these church clubs and you realize you have left out this essential part of Church Body care? You confess to God. You confess to your congregation. You disciple. And then you discipline. God receives the repentant.
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