Introduction
 What
ever happened to church discipline? Once a normal part of church life (especially
in Baptist and Presbyterian circles), biblical correction, admonition, rebuke,
and excommunication have become all but extinct - dinosaurs on a contemporary
horizon that is now more dominated by worship wars and polished programs than
by biblical health and holiness. The flowering and fading of modernity has popularized
a moral relativism and a mystic spiritual individualism that have combined to
make "judgment" sound like the most recently coined four letter word. Jesus
certainly wouldn't use such foul language…would He? He who said Do not judge,
so that you will not be judged (Matt 7:1) also said Do not judge according to
appearance, but judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24). And Paul queries
the Corinthians Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those
who are outside, God judges. "Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (1Cor
5:12-13). Evidently both Jesus and Paul really do want us to judge one another
in some ways, even though they do not want us to judge one another in other
ways. And with that, of course, we arrive at the matter of church discipline.
How do we judge one another "with righteous judgement" in the church? How do
pastors and leaders shrewdly discern sin in the sheep under their charge, and
then respond to it biblically, wisely, and winsomely? When should we exercise
discipline, and why? What does the Bible say about the responsible exercise
of godly church discipline? Who exactly is responsible to carry out such discipline?
What happens if we neglect it?
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