John Piper: Christians who insist on marrying nonbelievers should be excommunicated
“a Christian who moves ahead with the marriage despite the counsel of elders must be removed from church membership ‘to sober the disobedient believer, wake them up, and win them to a repentant and obedient heart and restoration.’” - CPost
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Josh, sure, the person in unrepentant sin ought to be disciplined—the question is how and by whom? My comment is merely to suggest that in a situation where the sinner is bound to find that he’s acted in haste and is free to repent at leisure, that an additional punishment by the church amounts to little more than piling on.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I asked:
I have a woman at my church married to an unbeliever. Should I recommend we pursue church discipline against her, because she violated scripture when she married him knowing he was an unbeliever 20+ years ago? If you agree with Piper, why shouldn’t I recommend church discipline against her? I am asking seriously, not sarcastically.
You replied:
No you shouldn’t if she has repented. At that point she is a testament to the wonderful forgiveness of God, as we all are for different reasons. I agree that this stuff is messy and I’m no pastor but the situation seems straightforward.
You suggest that I:
- Approach her out of the blue
- ask her if she has repented for marrying an unbeliever 20 years ago
- then threaten her with church discipline if she does not repent?
Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.
[TylerR]I asked:
I have a woman at my church married to an unbeliever. Should I recommend we pursue church discipline against her, because she violated scripture when she married him knowing he was an unbeliever 20+ years ago? If you agree with Piper, why shouldn’t I recommend church discipline against her? I am asking seriously, not sarcastically.
You replied:
No you shouldn’t if she has repented. At that point she is a testament to the wonderful forgiveness of God, as we all are for different reasons. I agree that this stuff is messy and I’m no pastor but the situation seems straightforward.
You suggest that I:
- Approach her out of the blue
- ask her if she has repented for marrying an unbeliever 20 years ago
- then threaten her with church discipline if she does not repent?
Wouldn’t the assumption be that she has repented of past sin if she is a born again believer? That’s still different to me than someone who is already a member in your church and planning a sinful decision.
[TylerR]The CP headline is a paraphrase. Here is the actual question from Desiring God:
Here’s one of those questions, from a listener named Eric, a pastor. “Hello, Pastor John! I’m a pastor wondering what should be a corrective course of action when a Christian knowingly marries an unbeliever. The believer was forewarned and went ahead with the union anyway. Now the marriage has been formalized. So how should we, the church, now respond?”
How is the CP headline incorrect, if it is?
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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