church discipline

disciplining your children is not popular in our culture.  there is a stream of thought that says you can just love your child into being good without ever having to enact any consequences for their actions.

this line of thinking has bled over into the church.  because discipline is hard and painful at the moment,  churches often fail to look forward with faith to what discipline can accomplish (see hebrews 12:11).  in so doing, they ignore sin and allow it to spread like cancer through our churches.  and we wonder why so many american christians are weak and lukewarm.

here is a great story of a young man who experienced church discipline in his family, and the fruit it yielded in his life:

"One Sunday after our church service, the senior pastor extended his hand to greet my dad, one of his fellow elders. Yanking his hand away, my dad jetted past him. I sometimes question why God let that instance from six years ago sear my memory. Frankly, I don’t know.

But I do know that like this memory, God used my dad’s excommunication for good. I hope this testimony shows that. I hope it encourages churches to not shirk what God requires for their good and, most importantly, for his name’s sake (see Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5).

I suspect many pastors fear obeying Jesus’ command in this area because they dread the strife that could result. Judging by what happened with my dad and the reactions from my church, my family and myself, I understand that fear. But I hope this testimony will help you overturn that fear and embrace faithful obedience to Jesus’ commands..."

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