Church Discipline - Part 3

Discipline Today

The neglect to discipline is not only inconsistent with the teachings of Scripture but also with the traditions of the last two thousand years. Now while it would be impossible to observe every denomination’s reasons for neglecting church discipline, R. Stanton Norman offers insight into what has happened to the Baptist church. He lays out four primary reasons as to why the twentieth century has brought about this neglect of discipline. First, the idea of individualism that permeated the thoughts of the twentieth century world has come into the Church. The idea of accountability has almost become a thing of the past, and people become quite upset when someone points out their faults. They immediately jump into a defensive manner not believing that anyone has a right to “judge” them. Instead of looking at the concerns of a fellow believer, they take the concern as an attack. This selfish individualism has destroyed the idea of accountability and has left the church wondering how to exercise discipline.

Secondly, Norman suggests that a “lack of respect for authority within the church” has led to a decline in discipline. Again, the influence of the secular world has crept into the life of the Church. The secular world in general does not respect the Church’s authority on any concerns, whether it be dealings with abortion and homosexuality or the institution of the Ten Commandments in public places. As a result, people within the Church have begun to question the Church’s true authority. This has helped contribute to the idea of individualism, and people do not want the Church to have any involvement when dealing with matters concerning their personal lives. Much like individualism, this lack of respect for the church has crippled the Church’s efforts to discipline properly.

Norman also suggests that conflicting denominational lines has also led to the decline of church discipline. When church discipline is actually practiced and taken to its furthest point, the expulsion of one of its members, it is too easy for someone to jump across denominational lines and begin attending church again as if nothing had happened. Too many times, each individual congregation is seen as “the church” rather than “a part of the Church.” People have forgotten that the Church is actually the larger group of believers, and if unity is not held between the various denominations, then when church discipline is practiced, it will not have a major effect on the individual. However, the problem can also be seen within a denomination as well. If someone is kicked out of one Baptist church in a community, they can go a few miles down the road and find another Baptist church just as easy. If churches are not communicating properly, then this second church may allow them to join their fellowship without knowing why they desire to transfer their membership. Unity is not only important within the small group of believers at an individual church, but it is also important across the Church as a whole.

Finally, the lack of accountability has also led to the Church’s inability to discipline. Again stemming from the individualistic nature of people today, no one wants to be held accountable to anyone else. However, this is one of the most important aspects of the Church. Jesus taught the importance of small group disciplining in forming His own small group of followers. Likewise, the founders of the church in the New Testament followed this example, taking the time to pour into a select group of believers. The early disciples met in small groups within their own homes on a regular basis for times of study and prayer. They lived life together and helped each other along in their Christian walk. Although the idea of small groups is still around today, the idea of accountability has been lost. These small groups may only meet to eat and study, but do they take the time to find out where each other is struggling in life and commit to pray for them? The beginnings of church discipline must start within this small group concept.

Assuming that these four reasons suggested by Norman are valid, it still does not solve the problem. These reasons show why the Church is unable to discipline, but if the Church is not willing to discipline, then what was mentioned above is worthless. Maybe part of the problem the Church is facing today is the unwillingness to discipline its members, afraid of what the repercussions might be. One fear the Church may have is the thought of their members leaving the Church and never coming back. Another fear deals with the possibilities of lawsuits and how to handle extreme cases such as those.

Many times the fear of the unknown keeps people from doing many different things in life. A church must not let fear be a hindrance in disciplining its members. If they are using discipline correctly, then they would be doing it with the mindset of helping their members rather than throwing them out to the side. There will be those times in which a person may never come back to the church, but that cannot be the concern of the church. The church must continue to reach out to that person in an effort to restore the relationship, but when someone makes it clear that they want no part in the church, then the church cannot feel as if they did an inadequate job at disciplining. Actually, the church did everything right in such a situation.

The biggest danger in disciplining members today is threat of having a lawsuit given against the church. Laney illustrates this possibility with a case between Marian Guinn and a Catholic Church in Collinsville, Oklahoma in 1974. Marian, a single mother who began attending this church, was taken in and cared for by several members of the church. When she was found to be in an affair with another member of the community, the church elders confronted her on her sin out of concern. They warned her of the dangers of the path she was taking and tried to help her overcome the situation; however, Marian did not heed to their advice and continued to take part in this man’s affair. The church then took matters one step further and told Marian that she would have to explain her situation before the church while they dismissed her from the congregation. It was at this point that Marian refused to adhere to their request and told them not to bring it before the church. Instead, she would move to another church and just anonymously tell the church that she was leaving. When the church would not agree to her terms and shared the case with the congregation the following Sunday, Marian filed a lawsuit against the church. Her claim was that the church had made an “invasion of privacy and [had a] willful intention to inflict emotional distress.” The case then went to court and the jury ruled in favor of Marian. Cases such as this are probably one of the greatest fears of churches today and the primary reason why discipline is not practiced.

The question that comes from this case is should the fear of being sued cause a church to disobey a command given by Jesus? Quite simply, the answer is no; however, in many people’s minds the answer is not that simple. When cases such as these are taken to court, the country and the world begin to see the negative side of the Church, and many become turned off by this negative publicity. In many ways it could hinder the Church’s ability to spread the gospel. So the Church has to be careful about how they handle these cases; however, if a church is following the guidelines laid out by Christ and will take the first two steps seriously, it may never come to the troubles of this final step.

The fears of actually carrying out church discipline are real, and may be the primary reason why it is not practiced in today’s churches, but as already noted, this cannot be used as a reason to disobey Christ’s commands. The Christian life itself is hard, and the idea of being persecuted may be a fear that many Christians have today. Persecution, however, is not a reason to give up on the Christian life and sit on the sidelines. Jesus commands Christians to live out their faith and carry the gospel to others despite the cost. In the same way, the fears associated with church discipline should never cause a church to neglect His commands. So the question that arises is what would discipline look like in today’s church?

Matt