The purposes of church discipline are for the spiritual restoration of a fallen brother, the subsequent strengthening of the church as a whole, and for glorifying the body of Christ. When a brother in Christ is rebuked and he turns from his sins and is forgiven, he is reconciled back in the right standard with God, along with the right fellowship with the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the response to a fallen brother requires active discipline—a step-wise process, which Jesus has set forth in the book of Matthew (18:15-17). This process includes: (1) steps to be followed by the individual, whom the leader has offended or who knows of the leader’s sin; (2) if there is no reconciliation, the process of discipline moves to a plural level where witnesses are used to confront the leader who has sinned; (3) if needed further action involves the church body; (4) finally, if the faults of the leader are not resolved—he is to be treated as an outsider.t
The bible states, in Matthew 18:15-17, Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
MEET WITH THE BROTHER PRIVATELY
The primary step of church discipline begins on an individual level and then moves to the plural level and dimensions of the church body. Matthew 18:15-17, says, "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back but if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If the church decides you are right, but the other person won't accept it, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.”2
Meeting with your brother privately and pointing out his fault is an unknown discipline within the present church. The church has become very unconsciously inactive. We have allowed the most extreme and unwarranted behaviors in the church to go on without any consequence and this has destroyed the unity and the purity of the church. Our failure to approach our brother with his sin has caused a hindrance in the unity of the Body of Christ.3 Furthermore, the failure to discipline has caused a complacently among church membership and responsibility. Church discipline starts on an individual level, and our biblical response for the purity of the church should be to confront the fallen brother privately. Despite biblical warranting, private confrontation in the church has been regarded as wrong and, some how, has been reflected as a negative or judgmental response. Nevertheless without private confrontation, this primary step in discipline has become neglected, and this has led to us losing the sense of community and mutual responsibility for one another.3 Scripture supports restoration in that, “we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”4 Often we have given excuses such as, "Well, it's not really any of my business, is it?" Discipline is costly because my brother's business now becomes mine.
MEMBERSHIP IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DISCIPLINE
Members of the church have failed their responsibility because they frequently quote, but have misinterpreted the scripture: Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that you be not judged."4 It is imperative to understand that God’s Word is the judge, and our lack of understanding has certainly put hesitancy in the hearts of many in regard to dealing with sin in the membership. I believe the fear of rejection has deterred us from correct discipline because we only anticipate in our minds what a faulty leader will say to us: "Mind your own business. You have no authority to tell me what I can and can't do. I am the leader" This anticipation of rejection and rebuttal has led many people to fear approaching a church leader concerning sin in his life. Talking directly about personal sin with an offender is difficult; it makes us feel uneasy and uncomfortable; however it is our biblical responsibility. To fulfill this responsibility, private confrontation should be done with gentleness, in love, out of compassion, and seeking to encourage3; the major purpose for private confrontation is to resolve the problem without fueling unnecessary gossip and restoring the brother.
MEET WITH THE BROTHER WITH OTHER WITNESSES
Secondly, if the private confrontation doesn’t work or is unsuccessful and the brother continues to sin and refuses to listen to the one who has confronted him privately—the next step is to approach the brother with one or two more witnesses. In some cases this can be very difficult because the lack of biblical understanding from other believers within the church. Some witnesses will simply want to ignore the problem, and feel in time it will go away. They will say things like: "…give him time to heal, or so that he can deal with the problem.” I believe the lack of haste responsiveness by the witnesses gives time for the brother to become callous towards the sin and the church. The witnesses goal is to discipline and it is not time to compromise or negotiate, discipline has to be demonstrated so that others will not stumble. In addition, the two or more witnesses have to know the consequence of the punishment before meeting with the brother, so there will be no confusion during the period of confronting him. I have been in a situation where we attempted to discipline a brother, and the witnesses begin to stall from fear of driving the person away, especially if the brother is a major financial contributor to the church. However, discipline was to be granted, while others were convinced it was too harsh. The witnesses’ purpose of talking to the fallen brother is so that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”2 In other words, the witnesses are present not only to confirm that the sin was committed but, in addition, to confirm whether or not the sinning brother has repented.
Following these steps, if the two or more witnesses were not successful—it is the responsibility of the church leadership to bring about a reprimand to the accuser, openly.
This has to be done with Godly wisdom, but reprimand is strongly recommended. This step tends to be neglected because usually the guilty brother is not faithfully attending church. Damages can be made within the church without the believer showing up, so there has to be a public announcement and often this process is fearful among leadership because of the fear of legal reprisal in the form of lawsuits.3 I believe pastors struggle with this step because of the false concept of discipline and their observation of past personal abuse. In their minds discipline is associated “with heresy hunts, intolerance, oppression, harshness, mean-spiritedness, self-righteousness, legalism, etc. Many cases pastors are related to this fear of being labeled a cult and being too strict toward their members.”3 The responsibility of the appointed leaders is to openly or literally name the person and his sin from the pulpit to the congregation in love. Scripture confirms open reprimand, which it states: “An open rebuke is better than hidden love!”2
HARSHED DISCIPLINE TO THE BROTHER
Finally, treat him as an outsider if the fallen brother doesn't repent. Sit him down from his appointed duties or put him out of the church until he does repent. This will allow the church to maintain a true relationship and keep the commandments of God. Jesus taught that discipline is the key to discipleship. Jesus said to the people who believe in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.”2 The real question of discipline and discipleship is whether we will apply the Biblical discipline in our churches today.
In conclusion, I am an advocate of biblical discipline and if you are aware that a ministry leader has fallen, we should use the New Testament to guide our fallen brother into right standard with God. The process starts with the offended individual confronting the brother privately. If no result, then we should confront him with two or more witnesses and if this does not work—the church should openly rebuke the brother’s sin. This will allow the reconciled leader to yield the fruits of holy living, holy correction, and holy purity. Lastly if the brother continues in sin, the church’s responsibility is to ostracize the fallen brother from the fellowship of the church.1 The Church should seek God for mercy for our fallen brother in hopes we can restore him back into the fellowship.
Bibliography1.John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 16–23 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988)
2.The Living Bible, Paraphrased (1971). Wheaton, IL, Tyndale House
3.“Reflections on Church Discipline: "Article," Enjoying God Ministries 27 (Sep 07, 2007): enjoyinggodministries.com/enjoying-god/reflections-on-church-discipline/
4.The Holy Bible, New King James Version (1982). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. This is based on the Authorized Version of 1611, commonly called the King James Bible
