Church discipline from a historical perspective has largely circled around the sacraments and the sacraments represented salvation. Penance, Baptism, Mass, and Communion for a large part Christian history have contained within them salvation. Many divisions of the Church still teach them this way. Excommunication of 1 Corinthians 5 isn’t as big of a deal if the person is still saved. If salvation is somehow mingled into the sacraments and excommunication centers around the sacraments then salvation is ultimately being taken away from the convicted unless they repent. “Excommunication is, and was ever esteemed to be, more than a mere local expulsion from the Church. It always implied a denial of the Gospel-ordinances, and with them the means of saving grace.” The early Church focused primarily on three reasons for discipline: 1. “The honour of the Church”, 2. As an “example to others”, and 3, that the delinquent’s “spirit might be saved.” Also it is clear that the execution of the discipline throughout history has largely been with that of the bishop. A broad view of the Church’s history on this topic would be for another paper.
For brevity’s sake, the Baptists will see some attention. Compared to contemporary Christianity, early Baptists have some fairly humorous (at least the author of this post finds them humorous) stories to tell as it relates to Church discipline. At a gathering, some elders made known to the congregation the work they were up to in the town recently:
[We] went to the wife of William Austin, unto whom we declared the cause of our coming and the resolutions of the church, as before: which when we had done, she said they were excommunicated already. We told her she was deceived; they were reproved and admonished, but not excommunicated. Then she confessed it and said ‘Tis true I was reproved by Mr. Denne for denying the faith wherein I was baptized, but I do not deny that Christ died for all, for I say that all shall be saved.’…Then being weary with hearing her utter these, and many more wicked and blasphemous speeches against the Lord… we excommunicated her…And so we departed from her.
The story above represents in large part how many viewed Church discipline for a very long time. Church discipline was a matter of steps. After step one comes step two, after two is three, and after three you’re done. Records, like the one above, seem to indicate that it was a very impersonal process. In the above story the steps take place so fast that the girl in question doesn’t even remember which step she’s on. The process is quick, impersonal, and dutiful. It’s important to point out how nonchalantly the two men are willing to excommunicate. In the above, it seems that they aren’t so much trying to lead this woman back to the Lord, but more like they are enforcing the law.
At least it wasn’t as bad as Michael Servetus, but it still doesn’t seem to grasp the goal that Jesus had in mind. These are people. Their lives with God are in the balance. It seems as if they should be grieving and aching over the fact that these people aren’t walking with God anymore, but there’s no indication of that. It seems much more like business as usual.
The Church is different from a club in that Christians have a moral obligation to God to remain pure. It isn’t easy. It isn’t popular. And it isn’t smiled upon. This is the task of people who deeply care for the people of God and ache over their shortcomings. On the flip side, it is a delicate personal process which shouldn’t be done harshly, quickly, or without the true end-goal in mind. Church discipline starts with sin and hopefully ends with a loving embrace back into the community of God. It isn’t for outsiders. It isn’t for the openly repentant. It’s for the kinds of people that nobody likes to deal with anyway. It is rough sledding. It isn’t the ideal, but it is necessary. “It implies…nothing less than a full and faithful application of those scriptural rules and principles, which were designed to preserve the order of the churches, to promote the purity, harmony, and useful efficiency of their faithful members, and to separate the incorrigibly unfaithful from their communion and fellowship.” It is also to be done privately as long as possible. Although this is hard to maintain these days. Wise people should also take care that even a private phone conversation can turn into a national media story these days.
Church discipline is an intricate process that shouldn’t be handled simply over the course of a week or two. This isn’t a fast-food American ideal, but we would do well to learn how this will affect American culture. We aren’t in the 17th century anymore.
Despite all of these factors the Church shouldn’t cease from its goal of becoming a beautiful bride set apart for her husband. “Lack of church discipline is to be seen for what it really is -- not a loving concern as is hypocritically claimed, but an indifference to the honour of Christ and the welfare of the flock”
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