America is becoming a graveyard for churches. Across the land stand tombstones that were once church buildings. Some of these churches failed to accomodate changing neighborhoods. Others became unfaithful to the Word and God gave them up. Some destroyed themselves - they committed ecclesiastical suicide. It is these of whom we are going to study.

Galatians 5:13 - 6:5 is a passage full of huge themes that we won’t have time to cover, and since our primary focus is on the “one another’s” of the New Testament, we’ll focus on those phrases in context throughout the passage. I see the overall theme of the passage as being walking together in the Spirit. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” –Galatians 6:1

In a recent discussion with other church leaders, the subject of church discipline was approached. I have read in the history of the church in which I grew up that a few people were “churched” for dancing, cardplaying, or some other evil practice. Obviously the subject of church discipline can be very misunderstood and abused. So often we think of it as a mere cleaning of our church rolls or “kicking the sinners out.”

Real church discipline is a very biblical practice but it is also an almost forgotten practice. In our world of individualism, we sometimes go too far to protect the privacy of our hurting brothers and sisters. Jesus commanded church discipline and the New Testament expands on His teaching. The idea of excluding a believer from the fellowship of the saints was reserved as an extreme last resort. Real discipline is much, much more. One of the best phrases to use in conjunction with “church discipline” would be “restorative discipleship.” Church discipline is really a means of correcting and helping another believer.

Paul challenged us to do the very uncomfortable task of approaching one who had fallen into sin in order to restore them to full fellowship with the church. Needless to say, the church should never resort to eliminating from her fellowship those who merely struggle with addictions or problems. Exclusion is limited to those who willfully ignore the problem of sin and minimize its impact while flaunting an unbiblical lifestyle as an embarassment to the church’s testimony.

It takes great courage to approach a struggling brother or sister. We’re never sure how much to say or how far to push. We are usually concerned about jeapordizing the friendship, but real friendship is a matter of strengthening each other and sometimes, even rescuing one another. As the writer of Proverbs indicated, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” If we offend someone by offering help, we may lose a friend, but if we end up rescuing them from the powerful grip of a moral problem, we may have saved a friend for life and eternity.

Real church discipline is rarely expressed through a congregational vote, but by courageous Christians who love enough to rebuke, correct, and exhort using God’s inspired Word.