Though in Christ we stand righteous and holy, the state of our lives doesn’t always match our standing in Him. If we try to help people understand the effects of living contrary to who God called them to be and they refuse to listen, it might require bringing them under church discipline. What church leaders sometimes forget, however, is that they also need to approach church discipline from their standing in Christ as His holy people.
Scripture that Suggests Holiness must Dictate How Leaders Exercise Church Discipline
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Col. 3:12-14)
The above verses prescribe the way His holy people are to respond to those whose state does not match their standing — “with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. … And over all these virtues put on love”. Though these verses do not specifically reference church discipline, they do suggest how we are to relate to Christians who have keep on sinning.
We can pull out at least three implications from these verses for how we exercise church discipline which you’ll find in the Steering the Church Toward Christ-like Character Leadership Guide. That resource also looks at 23 other leadership tasks or responsibility in light of Christ-like character.
For More:
All Posts about Church Discipline:
- Church Discipline Because of Church Purpose
- Lack of Church Discipline Against God’s Purposes
- Church Discipline Must Exemplify God’s Purposes
- Involvement of Body in Church Discipline
- Body Life Can Prevent Need for Church Discipline
- Discipleship and Church Discipline
- Discipleship Not Church Discipline
- Holiness the Objective for Church Discipline
- Lack of Holiness Affects the Whole Body
- Holiness Dictates HOW We Exercise Church Discipline
- Authority & Power Needed in Church Discipline
- Pivotal Role of Holy Spirit in Church Discipline
- Church Discipline But They Didn’t Change
- The Standard for Conduct
- The Power of Grace in Church Discipline
- If His Name is Holy Then …
- Prayer is Essential as a Preventative and When in Process
- When Christians Need Correction
- God’s Word Brings Correction
- It’s Not About Giving Up on People
- Church Discipline is a Matter of Stewardship
- Leader Qualities in Church Discipline