Redemptive Love: The Key To Church Discipline
The biblical confrontation of delinquent parishioners aims at restoring them to fellowship.
Donald L. Bubna
July 1, 1981
Debbie was a young woman in our congregation who had the knack of touching lives. One day she shared with me something which was troubling her in the life of a mutual friend, a fellow believer in our church.
Reviewing biblical principles together, we agreed certain logical steps of confrontation should be followed. Debbie hesitated, then said reluctantly, "I know biblically that's right, but it seems so hard."
Debbie's orthodoxy is sound and so is her heart, but her response to church discipline is typical of many in the church.
The exercise of discipline in the body of Christ is too often unpracticed. More often than not the exceptions are legalistic groups where discipline is applied rigidly to codes of dress and other externals. These surface problems are not of great or lasting concern.
But, what should the church do with a person indulging in delinquent behavior? Or when we are faced with violations of honesty, morality, or integrity-issues to which the Bible clearly speaks? What about the person who is showing an unusual amount of interest in someone other than a spouse? Or one whose business ethics are frequently questioned? Or the person who is flirtatious? Or one who stretches the truth? Or the young couple who seem to have no control over their child or their finances? How do we help these people?
Rather than caring enough to confront, we tend to allow much error to go on and on. Only if a scandal breaks out or pressure breaks up a marriage do we begin to express concern. Usually, this is too late.
God calls us to a better way. I was convicted to do some hard thinking about discipline when a parishioner asked me about my views on the subject. My response to him was immediate: "I don't think we deal with 50 percent of ...
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