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Churches in the Reformed tradition seem to take church discipline seriously, even to the point of including it—along with the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments—as a mark of the true church. An entire section of the Book of Church Order in many Presbyterian denominations is devoted to its proper exercise. There you will find detailed attention to the proceedings of church trials, appeals, and complaints.

Still, it is possible that even Reformed churches today suffer from an underestimation of the importance of church discipline. It is often reduced to the negative correction of sinful behavior. But discipline is much more than that. As J.I. Packer writes, “The Christian concept of discipline has the same breadth as the Latin word disciplina, which signifies the whole range of nurturing, instructional, and training procedures that disciple-making requires.” If Packer is right, then discipline is a synonym for discipleship, of which judicial discipline is only a part. Reflection on the value of positive discipline in the church is especially timely in our age of great skepticism toward institutional religion.

the privilege of discipline

The Rules of Discipline in the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America note that “all baptized members, being members of the church, are subject to discipline and entitled to the benefits thereof.” You read that right: entitled to discipline. Our struggle to conceive of discipline as a privilege reveals our restricted use of the term. To be subject to discipline is simply to be a disciple, and church membership is a disciple’s proper desire for instruction and guidance in its fullest sense.

What might that look like? The Scots Confession (1560) helps us by directing church discipline to follow the scriptural practice of nourishing virtue and reproving vice, accounting for the positive and negative dimensions of discipline. For starters, churches do well to recover the lost tool of discipleship: catechesis. This should include memorization—by young and old—of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Beyond implementing an overt catechism program, churches ought to strive repeatedly to cultivate the virtues of faith, hope, and love, and so they might frequently conduct studies on the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.

To be subject to discipline is simply to be a disciple, and church membership is a disciple’s proper desire for instruction and guidance in its fullest sense.

The Second Helvetic Confession (1566) goes into greater detail when it outlines at length the duties of the minister of the Word in chapter 18, “Of the Ministers of the Church, Their Institution and Offices.” Here we see the wide scope of his (and the elders’) calling to shepherd the flock. There are corrective actions described here, but most point to positive discipline, including teaching and exhorting the ignorant, urging the idle to make progress in the way of the Lord, comforting and strengthening the fainthearted, preserving the faithful in a holy unity, catechizing the unlearned, commending the needs of the poor to the church, and visiting the sick and those afflicted with various temptations. Much of this takes place in the public preaching from the pulpit. But it does not stop there. It can be enhanced and reinforced by the personal pastoral ministry in, for example, the practice of visiting church members.

We can go further. Discipleship is not restricted to the special officers of the church. It is also the duty of all believers, who hold general office in the church, to exercise their calling as prophets, priests, and kings by encouraging brothers and sisters, stirring one another to love and good works, and building up the church in its most holy faith. All of this is Christian discipline. Without discipline, the church has no disciples.

the difficulty of discipline

That discipline is a privilege does not mean that it is always enjoyable. It is often unpleasant. The wilderness wandering of Israel was a period of forty difficult (though not wasted) years.  This time of testing and humbling was the “way of the wilderness” (Ex. 13:18).  Moses describes it in Deuteronomy 8, saying in effect: “Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and fearing Him.” Looking back, Hosea described this wilderness discipline as God’s “cords of kindness” and “bands of love,” as He called His son out of Egypt and bent down to sustain His people (Hos. 11:1–4). The intention was to cultivate greater covenant allegiance in Israel and keep the people from serving other gods. Israel chafed under that discipline, but the true Israel did not. Christ’s wilderness experience was also one of severe testing and humbling. But unlike Israel, He did not doubt God’s character as a loving Father, nor did He doubt God’s word that He was the Father’s beloved Son. And His temptation in the desert was not the extent of Christ’s suffering. “His life was a perpetual cross,” John Calvin wrote. If it was required that our Lord learn obedience from the trials that He suffered (Heb. 5:8), can His disciples today expect anything less?


Like Christ, we can find evidence of sonship in our afflictions. The God who pities us, protects us, and provides for us is also the Father who chastises. Discipline is the daily gift of a benevolent Father who loves those whom He disciplines. What father, Paul asks, does not chastise his son? R.B. Kuiper reminds us: “Since his savior endured the wrath of God it follows that what the believer suffers is not punishment but chastisement. He is experiencing the love of God his heavenly father who is making him a partaker of his holiness.”

If the wilderness of our present evil age is the way of discipline, then church members are lifelong pupils in the school of Christ. Discipline is God’s means of our progress from childhood to spiritual maturity. Discipline has a formative role in the life of the church: it is where we grow in our knowledge of God and where we learn to rightly order our love for Him and our neighbor. We do not leave this school until we are called to heaven. Churches, therefore, should be more purposeful about their discipleship ministries, all of which should flow from the pulpit. Many church calendars are cluttered with the proliferation of programs, which may create more consumers than disciples.

Positive discipline will not do away with judicial correctives. Church censures remain necessary. But it is the testimony of many churches that a culture of discipleship, where the disciplines of faith and obedience are diligently taught, will bear the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” on occasions when judicial discipline is required.

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From the August 2024 Issue
Aug 2024 Issue