I have been a member of the Lord’s church for a little over twelve years now. In that many years I have yet to hear of a congregation in our area or the surrounding area disfellowship anyone for any reason. Many members have come and gone without even the slightest bit of concern for their spiritual welfare. It seems that many of our brethren have a difficult time determining matters of truth and matters of opinion and this makes the decision to approach the steps of discipline much harder. Also having multiple diffinitions of the term “faithful” is a growing problem in some of our congregations. This being said, I would simply like to know what unrepented sins are those for which steps of discipline should be taken? Would it be all such sins or just those that man has termed “greater sins” such as fornication or adultery? I realize sin has no size in God’s eyes, but most Christians seem to have trouble seeing this. Take as much time as you need to answer this question for me if you can, for I’ve pondered the asking of it for almost twelve years now. In Him, Rayford Henderson
As far as I can ascertain from your query, you have a biblical perspective of a local congregation’s (often sorely neglected) responsibility to police itself with the Word of God. Abundant biblical evidence notes the spiritual harm that befalls both individuals who needing a spiritual spanking do not receive such and the congregation (1 Corinthians 5). Church discipline is not a mysterious variable of optional application, but it is no less than one of the identifying marks of genuineness of the church for which Jesus died and over which he is the head. Congregations, for instance, that would not think of dispensing with the weekly communion desperately need to reevaluate their treatment of church discipline, if they are in the habit of ignoring that unpleasant and unpopular command (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15).
Following are URLs for articles archived in the pages of Gospel Gazette Online that address the subject of church discipline. Also, in response to the query above, page two of this issue contains a chapter on church discipline from my book: The Church Divine. The chapter is entitled: “The New Testament Church Is Divine in Discipline.”
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/1999/nov/page16.shtml
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/1999/sep/page15.shtml
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2000/apr/page20.shtml
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2000/dec/Page10.htm
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2000/mar/page2.shtml
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2000/may/page8.shtml
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2001/nov/Page14.htm#mark
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2001/nov/Page20.htm#tell
www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2001/oct/Page18.htm
