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Adult Class: September-November 2006

The Church

Lesson 12

The Life of the Members: Discipline and Unity

            In the previous lesson we noted that discipline is only possible within a framework of fellowship. If some people have withheld their commitment to Christ and to the goals of the family of God, any attempt to correct wrong behaviors will be felt to be unwarranted meddling. However, the church has a claim on the lives of its members and has an agenda for spiritual formation of Christians. The task of spiritual formation is the task of discipline.

            In Acts 2:42-47 it seems that the early Christians learned that the church expected of them moral living and devotion to the church. Although there are incidental sins to which we are all prone, there are sinful habits of conduct that cannot be tolerated in the Lord’s body. At the same time, the church leaders must set high standards of personal growth and development. The members of the church can never rise higher than their leadership. It is the church that provides the nursery for future preachers, teachers and elders. It is within the church that young people must be developed for service in Christ.

            It is this training, the development of Christians as those who are truly disciples of Jesus, that is rightly understood as discipline. There are various personal exercises that Christians can undertake to grow spiritually. Over the centuries, prayer, meditation, fasting, study of the Scriptures, giving, and service have all been found valuable. The point to all these exercises is for us to learn to obey and to come to know Christ.

            It is within the disciplined community of the church that believers can be sustained in unpopular ethical and moral positions they must take. It is possible that some Christians might resent discipline, but they will cherish the church standing with them in difficult times. Nevertheless, sometimes negative discipline is needed.

Withdrawal of fellowship

            Withdrawing fellowship from a fellow Christian is an action of last resort by a church leadership that seeks to protect others in the church. Withdrawal means that members do not and will not associate with that person. Eating with someone in the ancient world meant full acceptance, but that is certainly not true now. Still, the action of disfellowshipping someone must mean a breach of family unity. There must be separation and sanction against bad behavior.

            People to be disfellowshipped from the church include:

• The immoral—1 Corinthians 5:9-13.
• Teachers and followers of false doctrines—2 John 9, 10.
• The “disorderly”—2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14. In this case it meant the “idle,” who refused to provide their own living. Whatever “disorderly” means now, it should have serious implications for the congregation, including its reputation.
• Those who cause divisions—Titus 3:10.
• Those who leave the fellowship—1 John 2:18-19. If these are only people who have drifted away, we must be ready to welcome them back.

            The action of announcing the disfellowshipping of such people must be announced before the entire congregation—1 Corinthians 5:4-5. There is no point to extending discipline when only a select few are made aware of this important action. Such drastic action must only be taken after a first and second warning—Titus 3:10. The goal of disfellowshipping someone is always restoration of the soul to the discipleship of Jesus Christ—2 Thessalonians 3:15. The real terror of disfellowship is the demonstration of how bad life is outside the Lord and without the help of the church.

            Discipline is not the loss of Christian freedom. It is the intentional giving up of some freedom to become a certain kind of person. Liberty is always exercised with self-control and a regard for the consciences and emotions of others. However, the church cannot withstand the tyranny of a minority who veto any actions they deem uncongenial to their opinions.

Unity

            The theological basis for the unity of the church is found in Ephesians 4:4-6. Within the context of that passage, the one body is the church, the body of the one Lord, empowered by the one Spirit, in obedience to the one God. We have one faith, entered through one baptism. We’re not one body because we decided to stick together, but because we are bound together into Christ.

            Expressions of unity also strengthen unity within the church:

• The Lord’s Supper reminds us of our oneness in Christ and encourages unity.
• Worship—Romans 15:5-6—binds us all in common expressions of love and devotion for Christ.
• Support and encouragement—Acts 4:32-35—have always been found within the church. We take care of our poorest brethren.

            Where there is a desire for unity in the church, a way will usually be found to have true unity in submission to Christ. Where the desire for unity in the church is weak or absent, fractures are inevitable.

            I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought (1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV).