Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
When I first started attending a Reformed church, I remember an announcement that was made about a former member who had been excommunicated for the sin of contumacy. I had grown up in a mainline denomination where formal discipline was never spoken of, much less practiced. I was wholly unfamiliar with the process. I had never even heard of the word contumacy. When I looked it up after the service, I learned that contumacy is a stubborn refusal to submit to authority. I knew the elders to be kind, gracious, and faithful men. Even though I didn’t quite understand what was happening, it confirmed to me that this was a church that took seriously the commands of the Bible.
This episode was perhaps my first encounter with negative church discipline, which concerns the correction of church members and the administration of censures. To understand negative church discipline and how it works, we can look at one obligation, two guides, three goals, and four outcomes.
The one obligation of the church toward its members is the command of Jesus to shepherd the sheep. The prophet Ezekiel warned of bad shepherds who cared nothing for the sheep. These bad shepherds abused, neglected, used, and even devoured the sheep (Ezek. 34). By contrast, Jesus proclaimed that He is the Good Shepherd of the sheep. He would love, care for, and protect them. The Good Shepherd would lay down His life for the sheep (John 10). He would be the Good Shepherd pictured in Psalm 23, whose rod and staff would comfort the sheep. The elders of the church are the undershepherds of Christ in how they lead the congregation (1 Peter 5:1–5). This pastoral care and comfort include discipline to keep and guide the sheep.
As Ezekiel warned, shepherds can be harsh, overbearing, and abusive. We can see this in some churches even today. Scripture therefore provides two guidelines to steer church discipline away from abuse. Discipline must be guided by decency and order (1 Cor. 14:40). Formal discipline must follow the process given in Scripture. Matthew 18 gives a decent and orderly process whereby if a brother sins against you, you are to confront him privately. If he does not repent, then you are to take along one or two brothers as witnesses. If he still does not repent, then you are to take it to the church. This is done in a decent and orderly manner by giving the offender an opportunity to fairly state his case before the elders of the church. He ought to have a chance to defend himself against the charges against him. The deliberate nature of the process often takes time. Those in the midst of the process may see that as a problem, but it is a feature of the system, not a bug. We do not want such important decisions rendered hastily. Decency and order require thoughtful, patient, and measured responses. If, however, a person is found to be in sin—and especially if he is unrepentant—he is to be disciplined, possibly to the extent of excommunication.
These two guidelines have already hinted at the three goals of negative church discipline. Church discipline must have the threefold goal of the glory of God, the peace and purity of the church, and the reclamation of the sinner. First, God will not be mocked (Gal. 6:7). The contumacious sinner will not be allowed to stand in the assembly of the saints and shake his fist at God in defiance. We must reverence God’s name and stand for His honor. Second, discipline seeks the peace and purity of the church. “Give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:27). If sin is not dealt with in the church, it will spread. Paul warns that falsehood and sin left unchecked by discipline “will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene” (2 Tim. 2:16–17). The peace and purity of the church must be maintained for the overall good of the church. Third, discipline seeks to reclaim a lost sinner. One of the objectives of the process in Matthew 18 is “gain[ing] your brother.” The grace of Christ is always offered to repentant sinners. We must not be hasty in condemning but must instead remember that “such were some of you” (1 Cor. 6:11). Earnest repentance will always conclude the formal disciplinary process.
Sadly, the hardness of men’s hearts necessitates the negative outcomes of discipline. There are four negative outcomes. A church member who is found guilty of sin may be given the censure of admonition, suspended from the sacraments, or excommunicated. The fourth outcome is that an officer of the church may be removed from his office (either temporarily or permanently).
These censures often grate on the sensibilities of the modern churchgoer. The men who deliver these censures are frequently met with the sharp retort of the unrepentant: “Who gives you the right?” The simple response is, “Jesus does, because you made vows to God in membership.” Discipline’s refutation of our arrogant autonomy hurts. That’s why terms such as excommunication often cause such disdain. There is a sting to the negative outcomes of discipline. This is by design. “All discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb. 12:11). If it isn’t painful, it isn’t discipline.
Yet the primary goal of church discipline is not punishment. It is the rebuke of a loving parent who hopes to bring her wayward child back. The sting of discipline should wake the sinner up to the gravity of his sin. It is far more dangerous for a censure to be met with an indifferent shrug than with a howl of sorrow because of the consequences. Lord willing, pain will lead to self-reflection, conviction, and repentance. Additionally, the pain of discipline ought to be a warning sign to others in the church of the dangers of unrepentant sin.
If the accused is convicted but makes earnest repentance, then the censure of admonition may be given. An admonition is a formal warning from the church. This does not impair the person’s standing in the church. It confirms to the body that the person’s action was sin, but there is forgiveness in Christ. Once an admonition is given, the person is no longer under censure. He is once again a member in good standing.
A degree more serious than admonition is suspension from the sacraments. This is a temporary exclusion from bringing one’s children for baptism and from coming to the Lord’s Table. This is of indefinite duration but can be lifted as soon as the offender demonstrates appropriate repentance. This period of exclusion should drive the offender to repentance. After some period of time, this censure should either be lifted for the repentant or result in further charges’ being filed against the unrepentant.
The next censure in terms of seriousness is removal from office. An office bearer in the church may be removed from his office either temporarily or permanently. Based on the severity of the sin, an officer may be suspended from office for a definite period of time. Some sins are so egregious, however, that regardless of the officer’s repentance, an indefinite suspension from office is necessary. Great care ought to be taken before reinstating this offender. And it may be the case that a man is simply no longer qualified to be an officer because of his sin. In such a case, he may be deposed from office. No one is entitled to the office of elder or deacon.
The fourth outcome is the most serious: excommunication. It is the removal of a person from membership in Christ’s church. When a sinner responds to a conviction of gross sin or heresy with defiance or indifference, the church must impose this censure. The greatest censure that the church can impose is to take away the rights and privileges that it has granted—namely, membership. The church can grant membership into Christ’s church and revoke that membership.
Removal from membership of the church indicates that the church does not view the offender as a believer in Jesus Christ. Though the offender may have once professed faith in Christ and may continue to do so, that profession is now judged not credible. This censure is inflicted with the goal of reclaiming the lost sinner. When Paul instructed the Corinthian church to cast out a man who was sinning in ways that even the pagans considered beyond the pale, it was in hope of that man’s eventual salvation. He was to be cast out so that he might be saved (1 Cor. 5:5). The offender is to be treated like a gentile or outsider (Matt. 18:17), which means that he is not to be shunned but evangelized.
Negative church discipline is driven by one obligation, bounded by two guides, purposed toward three goals, and limited to four outcomes. When church discipline is done properly, the holiness and good of the church are promoted. The negative outcomes of discipline are never desired but are a grace from God for the blessing of His church.