Church Discipline

Good Morning!

I am excited about our Bible study tonight. We are moving forward in 1st Corinthians. Tonight’s lesson is about discipline in the church. Paul scolds the church at Corinth for not applying discipline.

Church discipline in the 21st century is quite a bit more difficult than in the 1st century. There are a couple of problems that face a church when it comes to exercising discipline on its members. The first is the availability of so many churches and denominations from which a person can choose. In the first century, there usually was only one body of believers in the town so if you set outside the fellowship it really meant something. In today’s world, a miscreant can just move his or her membership to another body of believers – usually with no questions asked.

I have been considering joining a local body of believers … but I would like the preacher to at least visit with me before I make the decision. Here’s why: there are some skeletons in my closet – some old hurts that he needs to know about as I seek to minister within the local body – and as the local body seeks to minister to me. I don’t think any of the skeletons would hamper my ministry … but I want to be above board in everything that I do.

The second reason church discipline is difficult in the world in the 21st century is many churches seek to rely on their own resources rather than God’s resources. In short, they follow the money. Paul’s real complaint with the church at Corinth wasn’t that there was an immoral man in their midst but rather that there was an immoral man in their midst … and they weren’t doing anything about it … and were even boasting about it. Now I don’t know if the miscreant was wealthy or not, but I do know that there are churches today that will wink at the sins of their larger benefactors just so the money keeps flowing. What a disservice to the person caught up in sin. And what a disservice to the church in general!

How many of you remember mercurochrome? You know, the stuff your Mom used to put on your scratches and scrapes that burned like the dickens. You know why it burned? It burned because it was getting the dirt out. I remember it being a most unpleasant feeling … but it was necessary to prevent infection. More often than not, the cure for a person caught in sin is quite painful … but it is a necessary pain for the person to get well. That’s what Paul is saying. His whole purpose is NOT to throw the person away but to help the person confront the sin and defeat it.

God loves us too much to give up on even one of us. But He knows that if we persist in a sin, the sin will consume us. I am really looking forward to our discussion tonight. I think it is going to be great.


Agape’


Mr. Jim