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Church Discipline and Repentance

I think one of the issues regarding church discipline and repentance is this:

Those who have been Christians for a number of years, who have battled sin in their own lives, and who have ministered to those caught in the grips of sin, recognize that true repentance brings with it a certain brokenness--what David describes in Psalm 51 as "a broken and contrite spirit". Sometimes the repentant sinner will become so overwhelmed by the seriousness of his sin that he is crushed by the enormity of it all. We need to deal gently with those who are grieving over their sin; we need to recognize their fragility.

At the same time, we need to recognize that it is the Holy Spirit who does the work of repentance in a person's life. He may use us to admonish, teach, rebuke, even disfellowship, etc. However, it is not our place to "break" the sinner in order to bring about repentance. That's putting the cart before the horse. Besides, it's cruel.

We also need to recognize that sin is complex, powerful, and deceiving. Rarely is there just one sin--e.g., the sin of divorce. The person may repent of the divorce, but not repent of the myriad sins that led up to the divorce, for example. He may focus on one sin (becoming obsessed with his job while neglecting his family) and completely ignore or deny another sin (flirting with every woman at the office). The Holy Spirit, out of compassion for our frailty, does not always convict us of our every sin all at once. The process of repentance and restoration may take time...much time. It's kind of like an onion--the Holy Spirit peels off the layers of sin one at a time. Because of that process, I am always concerned when I hear about cases of "instant restoration", such as when a pastor runs off with his secretary for a wild fling, returns to his wife, repents, and is back in the pulpit a few weeks or months later.

UPDATE: I believe, more than ever, that sin is a serious, deadly thing. The Church does a disservice to all of us if sin is allowed to go unrebuked. At the same time, I've realized that the difficult part of church discipline is that you have sinful people trying to discipline sinful people. And you have a wide range of opinions about how that discipline should or shouldn't be carried out.

Back when I wrote the above, I was of the opinion that anyone who had sinned so grievously as to be brought under church discipline should, if he/she was truly repentant, be willing and eager to undergo any and all discipline without a murmur of complaint. If that person was "broken" enough, I reasoned, he or she wouldn't balk in the slightest at being treated like gutter residue and would take even the strongest discipline "like a man" or like a grown woman, instead of whining about how unfair it all was.

Since then, I'd like to think that I've grown a bit. I've also realized that, just as not all that is done in the name of parental "discipline" is godly and just, not all that is done in the name of "church discipline" is something that God would want us to do. Some discipliners, plain and simple, are power-mad control freaks who are a bit too eager to "break" the despicable worm of a sinner. Others simply want to wash their hands of the whole mess and get the sinner as far away from their local congregation as possible.

And then there are the wimpy disciplinarians who really don't discipline at all. They murmur something vague about "he who is without sin" and "who are we to say anything?" as they allow sin to overwhelm the poor sinner even more--and to destroy others as well.

We all need to recognize that sin is evil. It's deadly. It's poison. It's the whole reason that our Savior had to die such a brutal death. It separates us from the Father. It kills and destroys.

At the same time, we need to grow up and stop acting so shocked when someone sins, as if our own sins are nonexistent or somehow prettier and less stenchy than everyone else's. Our sins make us worthy of hellfire and damnation. When we realize that, truly realize it, we will be less willing to act like sanctimonious little snobs who dare not dirty their hands with vile sinners.

Life in this sinful world can get dirty. And if we get serious about rescuing sinners, things will get messy. Sometimes our brothers and sisters will fall into some truly awful slime pits and may need to come under church discipline in order to restore them to fellowship with Christ and His Bride. And, when that happens, we should weep with sorrow at their sin and rejoice with open arms and dancing and singing at their restoration.

And, always, always, we should take heed lest we fall. Sin is powerful stuff. Our enemy wants nothing more than to destroy us. We are not immune. Let that humble us.

Thank God that we have a High Priest Who not only understand our weaknesses but gives us the forgiveness, mercy, grace, and strength we need.

copyright 1994 , 1997 by Rebecca Prewett

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