Page 49 - Pastoral Ministries -Student Textbook

Conclusion
Corporate and private prayer must all be evident in every congregation. We can never practice one at the
expense of another. A believer who has no relationship with God in the secrete place is practicing hypocrisy
when he acts to know God in public, but even so, the significance of public prayer must not be underestimated.

Church Discipline

It was not long after the birth of the church that a
couple of members sought to lie to the church
leadership, and consequently lie to the Holy Spirit,
about the selling price of a piece of property. In
this situation, God disciplined them severely by
taking their lives (Acts 5:1-11). In I Corinthians
5:4-5, Paul commands the church to discipline a
person who is fornicating within the church. He
commands the church to put this person out of
the church and deliver them to Satan for the
destruction of their flesh, that their spirit may be
saved. Sounds rather harsh?

Church discipline in the Scriptures takes two forms. It may be given in the form of formative discipline or
teaching discipline or be given as corrective discipline or referring to correcting sin in the life of the offender.
When we think of church discipline today, we think of corrective discipline which may be a warning or a formal
removing someone from membership of the church. Another term may be “excommunication.” This is not to
say that removing a person from the church removes them from the possibility of salvation, as some
denominations teach. A church is incapable to taking the salvation of an individual away. It refers to removing
someone from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper and other worship
opportunities.

While churches shy away from such practices, it is interesting to note that the business world practices discipline
when an employee or member disgraces himself with improper behavior. A fraudulent lawyer is debarred. A
volatile player in sports can be fined or removed from the team. A malpracticing doctor can lose his license to
practice. A teacher can be fined or fired. The world seems to understand that there are consequences for
improper behavior. The same is true in the church.

In Hebrews 12:6 we understand that the “Lord disciplines whom He loves.” Discipline is practiced as a
expression of love. It is loving to try to stop someone from practicing sin which destroys lives and to bring that
person to repentance. It is loving to prevent weaker individuals in the church from being influenced by that
person who is practicing sin. It is also loving to communicate to a non-Christian community that such behavior is
not condoned by the church for the sake of loving Christ that his name might be protected and honored.

The best passage of scripture that relates to church discipline or personal offense is found in Matthew 18

Matthew 18: 15-17 If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they
listen to you, you have won them over. 16But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every
matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ they still refuse to listen, tell it to the
church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

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