If a local assembly is to be an accurate replica of the church of God,
it must witness to a fifth vital truth. The church of God is holy but how can
it exhibit this in a practical way.
Prevention is Better than Cure
First of all, it can do so by the godly lives of those who are
associated with it. This is fundamental. God desires practical sanctification
(1 Thessalonians 4:3). This is why Church truths are not given as an isolated
and distinct outline in any one section of the New Testament. Rather, they are
found in many different places, and are interspersed with practical instruction
for holy Christian living. The Lord does not simply want people who are
outwardly correct in their church life, but those whose lives are testimonies
to the truth.
To that end the local church should provide a good diet of Bible
teaching. This instruction should not consist of mere snatches from here and
there, but of consecutive, systematic teaching of the word of God. Only in this
way will the saints receive all the Word, and in the balance in which God has
given it.
Though sound and systematic teaching will have a definite preventative
effect as far as sin in an assembly is concerned, inevitably every local church
will be called upon to take disciplinary action at one time or another.
Whenever sin comes in to affect the peace of the assembly or its testimony in
the community, action must be taken. “Judgment must begin at the house of God”
(1 Peter 4:17).
Reasons for Acting
Disciplinary action has two principal purposes: (1) To expose and expel
from the fellowship professing Christians who are actually unregenerate—such
people as are described in 1 John 2:19, (2) To deal with an erring believer in
such a way as to bring about his restoration to the Lord and to the local
church. Discipline of Christians is never an end in itself but always a means
of effecting spiritual recovery.
Degrees of Discipline
Various degrees of discipline are described in the New Testament. In the
case of a brother who sins against another, he should first be dealt with
privately. If he will not listen, then one or two more persons should go to
him. Failure to listen to this collective witness results in his being brought
before the church. If this latter action should fail, then he is to be counted
as an heathen man and a publican (Matthew 18:15-17).
Another form of discipline is a warning (1 Thessalonians 5:14). This is
to be employed in the case of a brother who is unruly; that is, one who refuses
to submit to those who are over him in the Lord.
Then we read that two classes of people are to be avoided: namely, a
disorderly man (2 Thessalonians 3:11, 14, 15), and one who causes divisions
(Romans 16:17). The disorderly person is one who refuses to work, while the
other creates divisions among God’s people in order to attract a following and
profit materially.
An heretic should be rejected after the first and second warning (Titus
3:10). (There is some question as to whether this is a less severe form of
discipline, or whether it amounts to excommunication.)
Then there is the extreme form of discipline – excommunication from the
church (1 Corinthians 5:11, 13). This is reserved for a one or more. Is the
local church to be deemed indifferent or supine because it refuses to act on
the testimony of a solitary witness? Nay, it would be flying in the face of a
divine command were it to do so.
“And be it remembered that this great practical principle is not
confined in its application to cases of discipline or questions connected with
an assembly of the Lord’s people; it is of universal application. We should
never allow ourselves to form a judgment or come to a conclusion without the
divinely appointed measure of evidence; if that be not forthcoming, and if it
be needful for us to judge in the case, God will, in due time, furnish the
needed evidence. We have known a case in which a man was falsely accused
because the accuser based his charge upon the evidence of one of his senses;
had he taken the trouble of getting the evidence of one or two more of his
senses, he would not have made the charge.’’
How to Administer Discipline
Another aspect of this subject that deserves careful consideration is
the manner in which the discipline is carried out. For example, it should be
accomplished in the spirit of meekness, considering one’s self, lest he also be
tempted (Galatians 6:1). Also, it should be strictly impartial. The fact that a
wrongdoer is related to us by ties of nature, for instance should in no wise
influence our decision in the matter. Respect of persons must not be shown
(Deuteronomy 1:17; James 2:1).
In the case of excommunication, it should be the action of the church,
and not of any one person (2 Corinthians 2:6). We refer once again to C. H.
Mackintosh for the spirit in which this form of discipline should be effected.
He says: “Nothing can be more solemn or affecting than the act of putting away
a person from the Lord’s table. It is the last sad and unavoidable act of the
whole assembly, and it should be performed with broken hearts and weeping eyes.
Alas how often it is otherwise! How often does this most solemn and holy duty
take the form of a mere official announcement that such a person is out of
fellowship. Need we wonder that discipline, so carried out, fails to tell with
power upon the erring one, or upon the church.
“How then should the discipline be carried out? Just as 1 Corinthians 5
directs. When the case is so patent, so clear, that all discussion and all
deliberation is at an end, the whole church should be solemnly convened for the
special purpose—for, most assuredly, it is of sufficient gravity and importance
to command a special meeting. All should, if possible, attend, and seek grace
to make the sin their own, to go down before God in true self-judgment, and
‘eat the sin-offering.’ The church is not called to deliberate or discuss. The
case should be thoroughly investigated, and all the facts collected by those
who care for the interests of Christ and His church; and when it is thoroughly
settled, and the evidence perfectly conclusive, then the whole church is called
to perform, in deep sorrow and humiliation, the sad act of putting away from
among themselves the evil doer. It is an act of holy obedience to the Lord’s
command”.
Finally it should not need emphasis that Christians should not broadcast
the sin of their fellows, but rather throw a kindly cloke of secrecy around the
sin and its discipline, as far as outsiders are concerned.
Conclusion
Only as the church takes resolute action when sin is discovered can it
hope to maintain its true character as a miniature of the holy temple of God.
Perhaps it should be added here that the New Testament assumes every
believer to be attached to some local church; otherwise he would be free from
the discipline of any assembly, and such a freedom would be fraught with the
gravest perils for the individual.
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Read the next chapter: Expansion Of The Church
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Read the next chapter: Expansion Of The Church
