Church Discipline
It is a hard fact that the Bible teaches that sometimes in some cases a person has to be “put away”. This phrase comes from I Corinthians 5:13. It refers to a person who is a fornicator, covetous, and idolater, an extortioner a railer or a drunkard. The church is to judge those within it who are such persons and put them away from among themselves. This means what it says. It means that the church leadership goes to them and tells them that they can no longer come to church. This sounds harsh. But it is a fact that when people do such wicked things that God must do something to protect the rest of the church from their influence, to keep the rest of the church from being defiled, to keep the Lord’s table from being defiled by their participation, and also for their own sakes, that they may repent. (Cor. 5:5) It is normal that the leadership has first given such persons opportunity to repent and be restored before putting them away.
This principle has been so abused. It has been politicized to gain power (the case of Henry VIII of England). It has been used to exclude people from fellowship that those in authority feared (Martin Luther and Jan Hus). It has been used as a weapon to keep people in a church under control for fear of being put away. It is almost impossible to fight against this when it is abused. Those in power are very hard to remove or reform. They will take action against reformers. Most often people who have been victims of this have just given up and gone off and started new churches.
A lot of questions are raised in a discussion of this problem. I will try to deal with some of the main ones.
First, how can we make sure that the church has no “leaven” in it? We all continue to sin. We still have “sin” in our flesh and we allow it often. But there are certain sins that God considers to be so serious that he groups them together and tells us that we should not have fellowship with the people who do them. They are found in I Corinthians 5:11
Fornicator -- Someone who does a sexual act that is forbidden in the Bible
Covetous -- Someone who cannot be content with what God has supplied him but wants the same things that others have and is consumed with getting them.
Idolater -- Someone who worships a false god. This god can even be an ideology or a philosophy.
Railer -- Someone who is verbally abusive. They deride, harass, falsely accuse, and humiliate others.
Drunkard -- One who is “hooked” on alcohol.
Extortioner -- Someone who threatens another in order to keep control of that other. This sin is so common in the church but seems never to be identified when it is happening right out in the open.
For these sins, when not repented of, a person should be put away, or denied fellowship in the church until they repent.
First of all, I must know what the Word of God says about my behavior. According to the principles laid out in the Bible, can it be said of me that I am a drunkard? An adulterer? An extortioner? Or any of the other sins. We must be clear about this. We must be open to God and to His word and willing to own up to our sin and confess it. More than this, we must repent. Stop doing it. We are forgiven. The blood of Christ has washed ALL our sins away. It did so before we were born because Jesus died and rose before we were born. He says to us “Go and sin no more.” Maybe after examining myself, I find that I am not guilty of any of these. I even consult with other brothers and sisters whom I trust and ask if they think I am a covetous person. They say that they can’t see any of these things in me. That is about as far as I can go to clear myself. I can ask God to “search my heart and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me” that I and others cannot see.
What about other people in my church? How can I be sure that someone else is not a serious sinner? God tells us, the church members that it is US who should notice (“notice” is the true meaning of the word “mark”) if someone is caught up in one of these serious sins and we are to accuse them. This is the right action because in I Timothy 5:19-20 an elder can be accused before 2 or 3 witnesses. Similarly, if a church member is involved in serious sin, he should be taken before witnesses and the matter should be made public.
There are some problems that come up, though, in deciding these things. If I one time, accidentally, become slightly under the influence of alcohol, (not falling down), am I a drunkard? Does one visit to a bordello make me a fornicator? We find that some of these sins have different definitions. Having sex with another man’s wife just once can get a man killed in some cultures, so it would seem that one time would constitute adultery. But wishing for a new wardrobe just like my neighbor has and buying some of the same clothes, only to repent of it and never again think that way does not make me a covetous person. Speaking out in a disrespectful way unjustly just once does not make a person a railer. But if I bow down to an idol, maybe I am an idolater. The issue is the little word “be”. “If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, etc.” What does it mean to “be” one of these things? We must be assured of that doctrine.
The decision seems to lie in the power of our fellow church members, because that is who Paul was admonishing here. He was saying that if you know that a brother (or a sister) is a drunkard, you, the members of the church, must put him away. It all comes from the beginning of the chapter where everyone knew that this man was having sex with his father’s wife and they were glorying in it. Paul says, don’t glory, put him away.
So, what if our fellow church members lie against us? They accuse us falsely and put us away? Here again, we need to use the word of God. What did they say about us and what did they do? If they followed proper church order and did not lie, we must be guilty and we should submit to them and repent. But if when we read the scriptures we find that what they said about us is not true we can go to them (Matt.18:15-17) and try to clear it up. If that fails, then we have to decide whether to leave or stay and ignore the false accusers. If the whole church is accusing us falsly we most likely will have to leave it, but we leave with knowledge that this group is an apostate church. It is very hard for any group to accuse a person of these sins when they are innocent. The person knows, and the accusers know, that it is a lie. I believe that this is why the only sins that can get a person put away are these extreme, public, easily identified sins in I Corinthians 5. For example, God does not have people put away for merely having a different opinion.
Opinions are troublesome. They can cause division in a church, but in themselves, if they are kept under control, they are not heretical. If a church leader says that if I disagree with him should I be put away? Marking a person according to Romans 16:17 is scriptural, but again, what is the offense? It is clearly defined. It is spelled out in black and white. Such a person causes division. He doesn’t just have an argument with the pastor. Causing a division in a church is heresy.
But wait. If the church is teaching that Christ was not God in the flesh or some other false doctrine and I speak up against this and others agree with me, now I am not a heretic. Now, I am a prophet and I am speaking for the Lord. If I am put out it is clear that the group that put me out is wrong. I should not fear them or the consequences of my actions. I need not listen to any of their threats, warnings or statements. As I said earlier, we must know what is being said and what is being done and compare it with scripture. That is the only way to know what is right.
This has been a discussion about a Christian being put away from a church. But what if I am a member of a church where there are some people who constantly criticize me and tell me I am not a very good Christian? I do not live up to their standards. Maybe I read novels. Maybe I watch television. They think these things are worldly and so they keep telling me I should stop it and they scorn me for doing it. Should I leave? Being put out of a church wrongly is one thing. Being harassed in a church wrongly is another. Remember Matthew 18:15. You should go to those who are abusing you and try to get it settled. If you go through all the steps and still these people treat you badly you should simply ignore them. But you have no permission to leave the church. Moreover we are admonished to let ourselves be abused and not retaliate or try to correct it. Be defrauded. Give the shirt from your back. Ask nothing if you have the grace to do so. But do not leave.
Also, there are times when the church is in a terrible state. No one is trying to put you away wrongly but there is so much sin! There is corruption! There seems to be no correction coming. Shouldn’t we leave then? Corinth was such a church. The Apostle Paul did not counsel the innocent members of the church to leave. He called upon the church to clean house. Get rid of the evil.
In all of these matters, there is often confusion. Things are not what they seem to be. It is hard to know how to deal with it. We wonder “Am I the problem?” or “Am I the solution to the problem?” or “Am I just an innocent victim?” Sometimes it’s hard to know. But we CAN know. We can investigate and we can read and pray. Then we will know. And we can do the thing that pleases God.
The bottom line is that there is the Holy Spirit. He works. He carries out God’s will. He can lead us. In all of the above possibilities, we must defer to Him. We should not start to do anything without His leading even if it is clear that it is right. It may be the right thing to do but the timing is wrong. Or the way we want to do it is wrong. We need the leading of the Spirit.
This principle has been so abused. It has been politicized to gain power (the case of Henry VIII of England). It has been used to exclude people from fellowship that those in authority feared (Martin Luther and Jan Hus). It has been used as a weapon to keep people in a church under control for fear of being put away. It is almost impossible to fight against this when it is abused. Those in power are very hard to remove or reform. They will take action against reformers. Most often people who have been victims of this have just given up and gone off and started new churches.
A lot of questions are raised in a discussion of this problem. I will try to deal with some of the main ones.
First, how can we make sure that the church has no “leaven” in it? We all continue to sin. We still have “sin” in our flesh and we allow it often. But there are certain sins that God considers to be so serious that he groups them together and tells us that we should not have fellowship with the people who do them. They are found in I Corinthians 5:11
Fornicator -- Someone who does a sexual act that is forbidden in the Bible
Covetous -- Someone who cannot be content with what God has supplied him but wants the same things that others have and is consumed with getting them.
Idolater -- Someone who worships a false god. This god can even be an ideology or a philosophy.
Railer -- Someone who is verbally abusive. They deride, harass, falsely accuse, and humiliate others.
Drunkard -- One who is “hooked” on alcohol.
Extortioner -- Someone who threatens another in order to keep control of that other. This sin is so common in the church but seems never to be identified when it is happening right out in the open.
For these sins, when not repented of, a person should be put away, or denied fellowship in the church until they repent.
First of all, I must know what the Word of God says about my behavior. According to the principles laid out in the Bible, can it be said of me that I am a drunkard? An adulterer? An extortioner? Or any of the other sins. We must be clear about this. We must be open to God and to His word and willing to own up to our sin and confess it. More than this, we must repent. Stop doing it. We are forgiven. The blood of Christ has washed ALL our sins away. It did so before we were born because Jesus died and rose before we were born. He says to us “Go and sin no more.” Maybe after examining myself, I find that I am not guilty of any of these. I even consult with other brothers and sisters whom I trust and ask if they think I am a covetous person. They say that they can’t see any of these things in me. That is about as far as I can go to clear myself. I can ask God to “search my heart and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me” that I and others cannot see.
What about other people in my church? How can I be sure that someone else is not a serious sinner? God tells us, the church members that it is US who should notice (“notice” is the true meaning of the word “mark”) if someone is caught up in one of these serious sins and we are to accuse them. This is the right action because in I Timothy 5:19-20 an elder can be accused before 2 or 3 witnesses. Similarly, if a church member is involved in serious sin, he should be taken before witnesses and the matter should be made public.
There are some problems that come up, though, in deciding these things. If I one time, accidentally, become slightly under the influence of alcohol, (not falling down), am I a drunkard? Does one visit to a bordello make me a fornicator? We find that some of these sins have different definitions. Having sex with another man’s wife just once can get a man killed in some cultures, so it would seem that one time would constitute adultery. But wishing for a new wardrobe just like my neighbor has and buying some of the same clothes, only to repent of it and never again think that way does not make me a covetous person. Speaking out in a disrespectful way unjustly just once does not make a person a railer. But if I bow down to an idol, maybe I am an idolater. The issue is the little word “be”. “If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, etc.” What does it mean to “be” one of these things? We must be assured of that doctrine.
The decision seems to lie in the power of our fellow church members, because that is who Paul was admonishing here. He was saying that if you know that a brother (or a sister) is a drunkard, you, the members of the church, must put him away. It all comes from the beginning of the chapter where everyone knew that this man was having sex with his father’s wife and they were glorying in it. Paul says, don’t glory, put him away.
So, what if our fellow church members lie against us? They accuse us falsely and put us away? Here again, we need to use the word of God. What did they say about us and what did they do? If they followed proper church order and did not lie, we must be guilty and we should submit to them and repent. But if when we read the scriptures we find that what they said about us is not true we can go to them (Matt.18:15-17) and try to clear it up. If that fails, then we have to decide whether to leave or stay and ignore the false accusers. If the whole church is accusing us falsly we most likely will have to leave it, but we leave with knowledge that this group is an apostate church. It is very hard for any group to accuse a person of these sins when they are innocent. The person knows, and the accusers know, that it is a lie. I believe that this is why the only sins that can get a person put away are these extreme, public, easily identified sins in I Corinthians 5. For example, God does not have people put away for merely having a different opinion.
Opinions are troublesome. They can cause division in a church, but in themselves, if they are kept under control, they are not heretical. If a church leader says that if I disagree with him should I be put away? Marking a person according to Romans 16:17 is scriptural, but again, what is the offense? It is clearly defined. It is spelled out in black and white. Such a person causes division. He doesn’t just have an argument with the pastor. Causing a division in a church is heresy.
But wait. If the church is teaching that Christ was not God in the flesh or some other false doctrine and I speak up against this and others agree with me, now I am not a heretic. Now, I am a prophet and I am speaking for the Lord. If I am put out it is clear that the group that put me out is wrong. I should not fear them or the consequences of my actions. I need not listen to any of their threats, warnings or statements. As I said earlier, we must know what is being said and what is being done and compare it with scripture. That is the only way to know what is right.
This has been a discussion about a Christian being put away from a church. But what if I am a member of a church where there are some people who constantly criticize me and tell me I am not a very good Christian? I do not live up to their standards. Maybe I read novels. Maybe I watch television. They think these things are worldly and so they keep telling me I should stop it and they scorn me for doing it. Should I leave? Being put out of a church wrongly is one thing. Being harassed in a church wrongly is another. Remember Matthew 18:15. You should go to those who are abusing you and try to get it settled. If you go through all the steps and still these people treat you badly you should simply ignore them. But you have no permission to leave the church. Moreover we are admonished to let ourselves be abused and not retaliate or try to correct it. Be defrauded. Give the shirt from your back. Ask nothing if you have the grace to do so. But do not leave.
Also, there are times when the church is in a terrible state. No one is trying to put you away wrongly but there is so much sin! There is corruption! There seems to be no correction coming. Shouldn’t we leave then? Corinth was such a church. The Apostle Paul did not counsel the innocent members of the church to leave. He called upon the church to clean house. Get rid of the evil.
In all of these matters, there is often confusion. Things are not what they seem to be. It is hard to know how to deal with it. We wonder “Am I the problem?” or “Am I the solution to the problem?” or “Am I just an innocent victim?” Sometimes it’s hard to know. But we CAN know. We can investigate and we can read and pray. Then we will know. And we can do the thing that pleases God.
The bottom line is that there is the Holy Spirit. He works. He carries out God’s will. He can lead us. In all of the above possibilities, we must defer to Him. We should not start to do anything without His leading even if it is clear that it is right. It may be the right thing to do but the timing is wrong. Or the way we want to do it is wrong. We need the leading of the Spirit.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 2:15 PM
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