Happy New Year – Love must find a way for Church discipline

As we start this new year I am wondering how the Church in my nation will navigate the immoral challenges of last year. I am further wondering about the challenges of my own denomination and the Pastors and churches that I oversee. What will they face this year? What difficulties will need to be dealt with? As we move into a new chapter and begin to see what was on Paul’s heart as he writes this letter I am thinking especially of the challenge of church discipline.

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? ³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 5 v 1-5)

What can be an abhorrence to one half of the Church can be something that is celebrated or ignored in the other half.

A man is having an affair with his step-mother which obviously not only wrecked his father’s marriage (if he was still alive) but has been the talk of everyone’s lips inside and outside the church. Paul has got to know and what did the church who believed they were so amazing do? Nothing!
So Paul wades in and starting from this situation begins to talk about other sins and what to do when they get into the church, which we will get to in the next few chapters.

Why did the Church not do anything about this situation (interestingly it would seem it was only the man who was a church member)?

Maybe it was because:-

• They didn’t know what to do.
• The belief more in the freedom of the individual to choose how to live.
• They had a liberal view of sexuality.
• Their arrogance about their spiritual gifts and their division over which leader is best to follow blinded them to the moral failure and their compromise.

Paul’s response was this:-

• Anger, Paul was appalled.
• He addresses the whole Church.
• He wants the man out of the Church. This seems harsh perhaps.
  • But it gives the man chance to see what the consequences of his actions are; discipline is for restoration not mere punishment.
  • It is so the Church can be saved. We don’t live out our Christian faith independent of a community. What we do impacts them.

The challenge is to find the balance between keeping to the orthodox teaching of the Bible whilst creating a culture of ongoing repentance.

Accountability without legalism.

Redemptive discipline without rejection.

Grace and truth not either.

For this year and for the Ministers and Churches my prayer is that love will find a way for church discipline.