Question 85. How is the kingdom of heaven shut and opened by Christian discipline?
Answer: By forbidding, according to the command of Christ, the use of the sacraments by those who under the Christian name maintain doctrines, or practices inconsistent therewith, and will not, after repeated brotherly admonitions, renounce their errors and wicked course of life; and whom, having been complained of to the church, or to those who are thereunto appointed by the church, despise their admonitions – by which censure, they are excluded from the Christian Church, and by God Himself from the kingdom of Christ; and by again receiving such as members of Christ and His church when they promise and show real amendment (a).
(a) Matthew18:15-18: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
1 Corinthians 5:2-5: And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:11: But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15: If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
2 Corinthians 2:6-8: For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
For your personal reflection:
Church discipline!?! Please. Though it is despised by many Christians today discipline, exercised properly, is an awesome thing. When the church exercises discipline with regard to belief and unrepentant manners of life according to the Word of God, it is an act of love and mercy – opening up to the individual the doorway of repentance and grace.
By whose authority is the church charged to discipline its members?
On what basis does the church exercise this discipline?
Why is effective discipline so difficult today?
What is the consequnce of a failure to discipline?
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7 users responded in this post
More good questions in desperate need of answers.
It seems like conflict aversion is a major tenant of life in our culture. Discipline as a whole is in decline – ask any teacher! Given the way culture is trickling (pouring) into the church, is it any wonder that discipline is avoided in the church as well?
Church discipline is made “easier” when expectations are clearly stated and proactively followed up. Naturally this applies to liberal churches or churches of other stripes where the Word is not clearly taught and applied. It also applies to evangelical churches – who with all good intentions focus on evangelism by being seeker sensitive, culture current and casting broad net. Seeker sensitivity, culture currentness and casting a broad net are helpful things. However, often the consequence is that those groups overreach in making the Christian message palatable. In so doing, they shift their focus away from discipleship. The discipleship that does exist is delegated to small group leaders who often are not effectively equipped for the task. Groups either become in grown or quickly form and disband. Therefore, when individuals “stray” the task of correction becomes much more difficult and then, of course, avoided. Much like weeding your garden daily, it is more effective to pull a weed at time, rather than waiting until it is overgrown. This spoken from a guy who routinely lets his “garden” become overgrown!
Another question: Is it too late to take a stand for the faith by telling Ms. Schori, et al to leave? I suppose we have to wait for Archbishop Williams to make up his mind as to whether or not scripture is relevant, his job description includes discipline, or even that Jesus is Lord. The “two Track” model of Anglicanism he has proposed has removed any doubt as to his uncertainty (at best – slithery activism at worst) over these issues.
Good points Craig. Nothing wrong with speaking the Good News in a language/format that current culture can understand. Would probably have stayed on the rails a little better had the problem of biblical illiteracy been addressed more effectively by some of us. We left too much up to the Clergy as we in the laity got lost in the excitement of it all. By doing so, we had a bug hand in nudging them into academic enclaves that placed more emphasis on questions than scriptural answers in some quarters.
“BUG” hand??? Should be “big hand”. Sorry.
Step, I thought I had learned a new phrase, “bug hang” – something that assists one to error.
Maybe I’ll start it as a trend with all credit to you.