It's 3:06 on a Sunday morning, and I can't sleep. I've wanted since my last post to finish writing about this subject, so that task is my "I can't sleep, so I should be productive" thing.
When I have seen "church discipline" occur, it's usually about the same: Someone falls away with varying manifestations, quits being present at regularly scheduled times of assembling, and then after some sort of process is "marked" and withdrawn from. My concerns about this have been pretty simple really. I haven't thought that the biblical pattern is followed, that really what we've continued doing is what we've always seen and done instead of what the Bible says.
I have come, after looking at what the Bible actually says about this, to see two basic flaws in what I've always seen. The first is that we have come to see regular attendance and faithfulness as one and the same. Some have abandoned this, I know, but I think it merits mentioning. God has always been primarily interested in the heart of a man. Moses stated this succinctly in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 in his appeal to the Israelites as they prepared to conquer the land of promise: And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? David says this in Psalm 51:16-17, For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Malachi recorded an unmistakable judgment against Israel for lacking a true reverence for God, rather they only were going through the motions of the law, but lacking what God really desired. He said it like this in chapter 3 as he spoke about what God would do later in Jesus, And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years. Many may have warmed the pews of our church buildings week after week, year after year, but have never done so with humble hearts of righteous offerings. This faulty litmus test has removed from our minds what really is the test of faithfulness, and that is a humble heart which seeks the Lord with diligence and with the purpose of glorifying and serving Him.
The second flaw I have seen is a deviation from the biblical pattern in the application of marking and removing someone. I have decided it best to list some quotes from the Bible itself and then comment. Please, please read the references even if you're familiar with them and feel certain you already know what they say...
Romans 16:17-18
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves not of our Lord Christ but of the their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
Various verses in 1 Corinthians 5
It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst...Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened...Do you not judge those who are within the church?...Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, not did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Titus 3:10
Reject a factious man after a first and second warning.
Revelation 2:14-15
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, not did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so that he may be put to shame. And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Titus 3:10
Reject a factious man after a first and second warning.
Revelation 2:14-15
But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam...Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Revelation 2:20
But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bondservants astray...
Revelation 3:3-5
Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
It has been my observation that the instructions for rejecting someone either imply or state that the person in question is in the midst of the brethren. However, what I have seen practiced is that we "remove" someone after they have already removed themselves. Further, what I have heard explained is that we must do this for their good because this is God's way of bringing them back. This belief found itself in 1 Corinthians 5:5, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. When the passage is read as a whole you see, however, that what Paul corrects is their arrogance in being willing to tolerate this immoral man among them. He explained why, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump... This was a pattern in the Old Testament as well. Unclean people and things were to be outside of the camp, at least until their purification was achieved. The possible result of the wayward returning wasn't the primary purpose; it was merely a possible byproduct. The purpose of removing the immoral (or factious or lazy man, etc) was to keep the body pure.
Having ignored the qualifying prepositional phrases in the above passages and taken liberty to broaden them is inconsistent with what we have clung to in other issues. When we saw the prepositional phrase, "on the first day of the week" appear in Acts 20:7 we insisted that the Lord's supper only occur on Sunday. The "with your heart" in Ephesians 5:19 excluded instrumental music. We have objected to the striking of those qualifiers and have even gone so far as to question the state of the soul of one who doesn't rightly place these boundaries where God has placed them.
A similar inconsistency on the topic of "church discipline" has occurred with the application of 2 Thessalonians 3. We have rightly emphasized the importance of context for accurate understanding and application in other areas. In 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul began talking about the brother who was leading an "unruly life" in verse 6. He proceeded to define unruly in the following verses both by citing the example that had been set when he was among them: because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that might not be a burden to any of you...in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example, and by offering a working word definition: For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Even though Paul, through the Holy Spirit, made clear what an unruly life was, we have broadened that to include any whom we have decided are undisciplined in a sundry of ways which he did not mention "in this letter."
Having ignored the qualifying prepositional phrases in the above passages and taken liberty to broaden them is inconsistent with what we have clung to in other issues. When we saw the prepositional phrase, "on the first day of the week" appear in Acts 20:7 we insisted that the Lord's supper only occur on Sunday. The "with your heart" in Ephesians 5:19 excluded instrumental music. We have objected to the striking of those qualifiers and have even gone so far as to question the state of the soul of one who doesn't rightly place these boundaries where God has placed them.
A similar inconsistency on the topic of "church discipline" has occurred with the application of 2 Thessalonians 3. We have rightly emphasized the importance of context for accurate understanding and application in other areas. In 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul began talking about the brother who was leading an "unruly life" in verse 6. He proceeded to define unruly in the following verses both by citing the example that had been set when he was among them: because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that might not be a burden to any of you...in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example, and by offering a working word definition: For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Even though Paul, through the Holy Spirit, made clear what an unruly life was, we have broadened that to include any whom we have decided are undisciplined in a sundry of ways which he did not mention "in this letter."
The passages in Revelation 2 and 3 were interesting to me regarding purity of the body. There were two churches, Pergamum and Thyatira, who were reprimanded for tolerating a wicked person(s) in their midst. However, the church at Sardis appeared to have some who have remained pure while others did not. That group was not reprimanded for tolerating evil among them but rather were affirmed in their ability to achieve purity in the midst of some who hadn't. Looking at all of the passages listed above convicted me that any who are chosen for rejection should be those who still still walk among us and are polluting the body.
Another thing that has troubled me is the potential for harm that deviating from the biblical example possesses. Paul did imply that the one who is outside the camp will suffer in the flesh. He further expressed his hope that this destruction would be the thing to wake them up. My gripping fear has been that when we go through this formal ritual (which doesn't follow biblical example) that we hold at arms length and give up access to those with whom Jesus would have eaten and walked among as the healing Physician and whom Jude says to snatch from the fire (Jude 23). It has become my firm belief that the very thing which will bring healing to the one who has suffered in his flesh as a result of his wandering off is the thing we withdraw, and that we need to soberly look at this again with fresh eyes. It may well be the difference between eternal life and eternal death.
There have been so many other things that I've thought about concerning children who've wandered off, and I have found myself with yet unanswered questions. If you have thought through these things and want to comment, I'd be grateful to hear what you have to say.
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