I don't usually do this, but due to the unusually low amount of activity in the blogosphere this past weekend, I decided to repost an entry from Saturday. I am really interested in your thoughts on this, so please, if you have time, respond to the following question:
Is it okay (and if so, when), to expel someone from the Church?
Wow, this is an easy one! I'm Yea, but barely.
ReplyDeleteMost of the incidences of "church discipline" I have witnessed in my life have left people hurt and scarred. There was very little healing and restoration which I think was the first intent of the NT writers, and should be in churches.
The point of "church discipline" I think to borrow Bonhoeffer's words is "to bring sin into the light..." and "[where the sinner] finds the forgiveness of all his sin in the fellowship of Jesus Christ and his brother." And finally, "He stands in the fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God in the Cross of Jesus Christ."
I think too often church discipline is done from a position of superiority and arrogance and not love and humility. What happens? People often will just leave a church and go to the one across the street. And NO SIN is ever dealt with. I don't think that was the NT writers intent. I think good Christian leaders should be able to foster an environment of safety (obviously by the Spirit and the peace of the Lord) where Christians can deal with issues in their life and let the power of God's grace literally change who they are. Unfortunately, most churches are shocked to discover that there is a sinner in their midst and are too high on their horse to deal with it in any sort of healing way. Rant, rave, and point fingers is mostly what I have seen. Not all, but mostly.
Of course church discipline looked different in the first century when there was only one church in town. First, declaring yourself and being recognized as a Christian had serious repercussions. To be kicked out of that community meant something far larger than it does now where we can just go to another church and pretend that we are wonderful Christians that have all of our "stuff" together.
What complicates the issue is that the NT writers also had a very corporate understanding of the church and sin which most Christians DO NOT get in our individualistic society. So they wrote that one person's behavior affected the whole body. When somebody is committed to hurting the body and nothing will persuade him to bring his behavior before the throne of grace then obviously something is going to have to be done, especially to protect weaker people.
Just some of my initial thoughts to you question, as usual I didn't stop to think before I wrote. Who knows I could be wrong. So Yea, but barely (and there are definitely some places I wouldn't admit this because of its abuses).
Scott, you wrote:
ReplyDelete"So they wrote that one person's behavior affected the whole body. When somebody is committed to hurting the body and nothing will persuade him to bring his behavior before the throne of grace then obviously something is going to have to be done, especially to protect weaker people."
I think you are spot on here! I think there is a time and a place and that there are circumstances that permit expelling someone. I think that unlike the NT personages, we today are way too sensitive to "sin" and we even go as far as to not deal with it at all because we don't want to hurt someone's feelings. But if someone is dedicated to hurting "the corporate body" then the Church is not the place for them at that time; especially if they're hurting a "weaker one" (in whatever capacity that might be).
Excellent thoughts (even without stopping to think)!