"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
"It’s good to have a more accurate membership roll. But it’s best to pursue these non-attenders toward a specific end: removal if they’re attending another gospel-preaching church, restoration if they’re happy to return, and excommunication if they’re either unwilling to attend church anywhere or unable to be found." - 9 Marks
"The objections and hesitations are understandable, but they’re also a bit too self-conscious. They betray a little too much concern with what other people think. Awash in the spirit of our non-judgmental age, ... church discipline feels acutely judgy, and that can’t be good for business." - 9Marks
What kind of sins warrant church discipline?
A sin that merits church discipline should be at least these three things: significant, outward, and unrepentant.
This post is a supplement to the “church discipline process” document/training posted earlier. The goal of this series is to equip churches to conduct church discipline with restorative excellence. Reposted, with permission, from bradhambrick.com.
Friend,
I would imagine it is very difficult to receive a letter from your church or a Christian friend at this time. Thank you for your willingness to read what I have to say.
Reading this letter means you are at the end of a long journey that resulted in a conclusion that no one is happy with. The people on this journey were once friends, and even considered one another brothers and sisters in Christ. An unsatisfying conclusion to this kind of journey stings to put it lightly.
If I could give you one piece of advice at this juncture, it would be “reflect don’t react.” It would be easy to view what your church family did as closed-minded rejection on the basis of a sense of moral superiority. But for the stewardship of your own emotional and spiritual well-being, I would ask you to reflect on the following questions:
This post is a supplement to the “church discipline process” document/training posted earlier. The goal of this series is to equip churches to conduct church discipline with restorative excellence. Reposted, with permission, from bradhambrick.com.
After discerning that discipline needs to be done and deciding how the process will flow, the hardest part of church discipline can be getting started. At least two dynamics are in play with this difficulty:
Let’s consider each of these before providing a series of scripts for reaching out when there are various levels of resistance.
First, church discipline introduces a hierarchical relationship where the norm has been peer-based; somewhat comparable to when a friend becomes your employer or professor. Church leaders should not carry their positions in a domineering way (I Peter 5:3), but as people in need of the same gospel hope (Gal. 6:1-5).
This post is a supplement to the “church discipline process” document/training posted earlier. The goal of this series is to equip churches to conduct church discipline with restorative excellence. Reposted, with permission, from bradhambrick.com.
In this article we examine the conclusion of a church discipline case. Preferably, church discipline ends in restoration; sometimes, however, it concludes with removing a friend from church membership.
After discussing the two possible outcomes for church discipline, this post provides guidance on how to discern if “adequate opportunity” has been given to change.
There are two possible outcomes for church discipline. The first, and most desirable, outcome is restoration. Restoration happens when the members agree with God about the nature of their sin, turn from their sin emotionally (remorse) and volitionally (choices), embrace the support of fellow believers offering accountability and encouragement, and are grateful for the way their church family pursued them during a season of waywardness.
