Church Discipline for Real Life

Since Aaron wrote about church discipline several weeks ago, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the severity of the problem – this is a big issue for most American evangelical churches.

Scripture makes clear, particularly in Matthew 18, that loving discipline needs to be a priority in the life of the church. Aaron did a good job of highlighting key parts of that big picture.

But this leads to a second issue: how does this work in real life? Moving from theory to implementation is difficult, and church discipline becomes especially tricky given the contours of normative church culture.

But if we witness ourselves falling short of the biblical standard, it is wrong to do nothing. That’s the same as disobedience.

Now, I don’t claim to have this figured out completely. But as a pastor, I have responsibility to help implement this in my local church. Which leads to the main point of application I think churches need to grasp in order to grow in their ability to handle church discipline biblically:

Identify a point pastor.

Probably not the best way to attract a good candidate.

This sounds simple (and simultaneously difficult), but the reality is that no one ever wants to think about church discipline until it’s needed. By identifying a person who will preemptively build a church culture healthy enough to carry out discipline, the church will not only be ready to face the difficult cases  - they’ll avoid a few as well.

Let me try to spell out a few benefits below:

Why a point person? God will unfailingly give His church gifted people to make sure his church can be what He intends it to be (1 Cor 12). In a small church, that person is probably the pastor or elder, but in a larger church, it may be a specific pastor or team of individuals. Identifying the gifted people God has given to His church to carry out this task is a step of faith.

Once this person (or team) is identified, he needs to be entrusted with the early steps of church discipline. If he does his job proactively and preemptively, the church will be able to build the culture that can handle church discipline.  The point pastor becomes a champion for church discipline that restores believers and glorifies God.

Why proactive and preemptive? You might be wondering why  I keep using words like “proactive” to describe this role within the local church. Simply, it’s because that’s the example of Jesus himself.

Too often, we are confronted by a “big” sin and a church reacts by trying to “figure out” how to do church discipline. But Jesus gave us the paradigm for church discipline before the church even existed!

Think about it: the Matthew 18 outline for church discipline was given before the church had even started. Jesus was preparing the community of believers to lovingly address sin and restore individuals before the issue even came up.  A point pastor is one who continually explains to the present-day church the importance and practice of church discipline. He is the proactive agent in the church body, one who prevents the violent reactionary nature of much church discipline.

Why a culture? Being proactive manifests itself in a church body that has healthy culture in which church discipline can take place. In order for a program of church discipline to meet its goals of communicating love and giving God glory, it needs to run on an operating system of (1) preparation and (2) genuine relationships.

A point pastor – who is always conscious of the call for a church to practice discipline – invests in the church culture with a mind to build up these aspects of church life. A pastor who cares about church discipline will not be content for inauthentic relationships where people check in and out of church each week. A pastor who cares about honoring God will not sit idly by until a crisis is so intense it can no longer be ignored. He is on the front-lines, investing in the church community.

How do you follow-through? It’s on these front lines where a point pastor will show his value. He will lead the church through the challenges and spiritual battles that will likely surround church discipline. When the time comes to enact church discipline, a point pastor with the right blend of gifts will be able to lead fellow believers in the process of spiritual restoration (Galatians 6:1-3), using a Spirit-driven of boldness and compassion.

Because individuals have these gifts in different measure, identifying your leader will simplify the challenge of addressing all the tricky issues that come with church discipline. 
No two sins are alike, but all of them should be treated with prayerful love and care. In the face of a challenging confrontation, church members are tempted toward gossip or defeat, but a point pastor who coordinates the “next step” will help church members navigate these tricky waters without stepping into either error.

The church must know this individual is available to walk through the process of loving confrontation with them. Again, in larger churches, this may be a team of people. However, the individuals in the church need to know where to go with that “second step” of confrontation.

An identifiable leader within the church will lead his fellow believers through the process with love and special gifting. This is an invaluable gift for the church.

Standing Firm. Church leaders need to have the boldness to carry out the plans for church discipline they communicate. This happens way before the “cast-out” stage, and faithfulness in the early stages will (Lord-willing) lead to fewer final stage actions. But even should church leaders be faced with the heart-wrenching decision to “turn over a brother to Satan,” they should follow-through knowing that they’ve lovingly sought to restore their sinning brother every step of the way.

In smaller churches, the person I’ve described is most likely the senior pastor. However, larger churches need to make sure that church discipline doesn’t accidentally fall off the radar. For my money, a preemptive and proactive point pastor for church discipline will go a long way toward ensuring it happens well in the life of the church.

No matter what, may we glorify God in the way we live our lives as the church.

Accountability for Christians

There are some things that just seem to be the application point to every sermon.  Regardless of what the point of the message was, you need to read the Bible more, pray more, be nice, and share your faith. 

Well back when I was in High School and College, it seemed that an application point of every message I heard directed towards men was “you need an accountability partner”, especially in the area of pornography and sexual purity.  An accountability partner was supposedly the answer to every sin you face.  At the time, the theme for my church’s men’s ministry was “Every man needs a wingman”. 

However, at least from the messages I am have heard in the past several years, the whole concept of an accountability partner seems to have fallen out of vogue within the Christian community.  While I have my opinions as to why this shift has occurred, in my next few posts I wanted to look at some of the foundational principles of Biblical accountability (this post), then discuss what I think it would practically look like (next week), and finally answer some questions I receive about accountability (week 3). 

The Foundation Supporting Accountability

By definition “accountability” is a person giving an “account” or “reckoning” of his or her actions.  How have you done at meeting certain goals, investing your time wisely, or avoiding certain sin patterns.  However, simply listing of my sins to another Christian creates a system kind of like the 5-year old who is forced to say “sorry” to his sibling.  It is forced, awkward, and doesn’t really result in heart change.  Instead, I believe the Bible presents several foundational principles of accountability that answer three of the most common objections to accountability. 

1) Relationship Precedes Accountability.  One of the reasons I think accountability has fallen out of vogue is because there seems to be this pressure that you find someone just to listen to your problems, regardless of the depth of relationship.  You are almost forced to manufacture accountability because you don’t already have deep relationships. 

But I think the real teaching of Scripture is that we need deep relationships with other believers where we can both encourage and be challenged. We are commanded not to give up meeting together and instead meditate on ways that we can keep stimulating each other towards love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25).  We need each other so we will not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). 

There are no “Rambo” Christians, but rather we see so many “one another” commands.  As a fellow member of the body of Christ, you should have great value to me.  If we were already experiencing life-giving relationships with other members of the body of Christ, I think some of the discussion on accountability would be moot. 

2) Accountability Invites Correction. In our human pride, we hate to receive correction, and that is one reason why the idea of opening up to others about our sin, failures, and where we want to grow seems like such a terrifying idea.  Further, in our American culture in the name of tolerance, we no longer have the right to tell anyone that what he or she is doing is wrong.  If you correct me too much, I can just go to the next church down the street. 

All of this has lead us to a society where the concept of church discipline in Matthew 18 or “gently restoring” a brother in Galatians 6:1 seem so out of place.  If I was already open to correction, I would want a trusted brother to be in my life to hold me accountable, point out errors in my thinking, and help me not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). 

The reality is that “Every excuse I ever heard make perfect sense to the person who made it” (Daniel Drubin).  I need to invite people to tell me where I am off. 

3) Accountability Points to Christ. A common charge against accountability is that it is a new form of legalism.  We are creating a new law or standard, and not living in the freedom that God gave us.  It is me trying to perfect myself on human effort, and not relying on the power of God (i.e., what annoyed Paul in Galatians 3:1-5). 

Ultimately, my human efforts will far short, which I am sure is part of the reason accountability has fallen out of style.  However, accountability within a relationship that points me to Christ, I believe is completely different.  

Using a framework from Romans 7-8, I think accountability is me saying,

• “I can’t do the very things I want to do” (Romans 7:14-20) – I am coming to you as a brother because I know that I don’t have it all together.  I have entered into this relationship humbly.
• “I need help to be set free from this body of death” (7:24) – I need your help to encourage me and challenge me. I want help.
• “Praise God that I no longer face condemnation” (7:25-8:1) -  I need you to remind me of the grace I have received in Christ.  You aren’t here to tell me just of my failures, but also of my forgiveness. 

You see how much this then become a Gospel – faith based – relationship, not one of mere human effort and works. 

In my next post, I want to expand this framework on accountability from Romans 7-8 to understand what Biblical accountability would practically look like. 

Be Careful When you Pity the Pharisee

In doing the work of an optical lumberjack, it is easy to lament those who have failed to take up their axe to their own eye.

But I fear that I can be far too quick to lament the self-righteousness of others without seeing it in myself.

I think this is one of the functions of Jesus' parable in Luke 18:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

I am always struck by the poignancy of this parable. In it we find that our self-perceptions of goodness don't matter - the only way to relate to God is in repentant humility.

Unfortunately, we live nearly 2000 years after this parable was told, and the distance from the original context brews an attitude we ought not to have:

We look down on the Pharisee.

Those perpetual punching-bags of Jesus were always getting called out by him, and I'll admit I've been a little too giddy to see those folks get their comeuppance in the Gospels.

In a parable like this one, we think, "Ha! That'll serve those self-righteous idiots!"

But when we do this, we miss the whole point of Christ's parable.

This was directed to "individuals confident in their own righteousness."

When we start comparing ourselves to the Pharisees, we're falling into that same trap. We've decided that our own righteousness is superior, and that it makes us a worthy judge of others.

Essentially, we are doing the exact same thing as the Pharisee in the parable.

Jesus' story is meant to call us to examine our own sinful attitudes and repent; it is not meant to allow present-day readers to mock the sinfulness of the original hearers.

We ought to identify with the tax-collector and join in his repentance.

Be careful when you pity the Pharisee in Luke 18, you might just be him.

-BJ