As we saw in a previous post, church discipline must be done in light of the greatest purpose we could have … to love God and love others (Matt. 22:37-40).
A lack of church discipline, when it is needed, therefore means we are not loving as God loves us.
What might keep us from exercising church discipline?
While we could list a number of possible causes, perhaps fear is one of the greatest reasons we fail to discipline when needed.
- fear of rejection
If our primary measure of worth is based on being liked, then we wouldn’t want to risk upsetting the erring person or others.
- fear of what others might think
If our primary ambition is to appeal to the world, then we wouldn’t want to be considered intolerant.
- fear of losing people
If our focus is primarily on numbers, then we wouldn’t want to risk losing people over church discipline.
Why must fear not keep us from God’s Purposes in exercising church discipline?
When our primary standard of measurement, focus, and ambition is on living out God’s Purposes to love Him and others, then we must let go of these fears and do what is best for God’s glory and people’s highest good.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 Jn. 4:8)
In addition to the content on this page, the Steering the Church Toward God’s Purposes Leadership Guide also considers what’s at the core of such fears.
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
Add to list a fear of failure. We’ve seen it done the wrong way, saw the consequences, now afraid we won’t do it right either.
To be sure, Elder Sam, there are a good number of “horror” stories of church discipline gone wrong which left quite a bit of fallout. That is why it is so important to get back to these basics to see how they relate to specific areas of church life. Often it is some of these basic truths being missed that cause the problems. When lining up with God’s purposes and design for the church, we can trust that He will use even something like church discipline for people’s good and to His glory. We must let go of our fears and be the Church He has made us to be.