by By Alex Shianda
The life of a believer is about being considerate of other believers’ doubts and fears (Romans 15:1). It is our Christian duty to build others up, aware that the visible church gathered on any random Sunday is a mix of believers and unbelievers. The charge to local congregations is to always warmly welcome anyone who wants to join them (Romans 14:1). Members are not to criticize visitors for having different ideas. They are to extend hospitality. Paul gives the example of a visitor who joins a local church and believes it is wrong to eat food offered to idols yet the church doesn’t have an issue with this. I have experienced this in different contexts.
Once while on a mission to a nation that is 98% Buddhist, our AirBnB host would wake up and give a food offering to his idol. The next day he would throw away the choice offering. After a few days, he began offering us the bananas, biscuits and treats he gave to his idol. Some among us refused to eat this food while others were ok with it. When I shared this story with some of my friends, they told me how while on a mission to eastern Kenya, a local witch would at night strategically place eggs around the house they were staying in. The local community understood this act as a bad omen/curse. However, my friends, seeing the eggs in the morning, saw God had provided for them breakfast and went ahead to fry them.
If you have been in church a while, you know some believers are committed to causing divisions and upsetting other people’s faith. More often than not, these are good speakers who fool simple-minded people. In 1 Corinthians 1:11, Paul talks of believers in Chloe’s church who claimed to follow Paul while others claimed to belong to Apollos, yet others Peter. We still see the same today, and these divisions and criticisms of other people’s faith have been amplified with social media. People who don’t speak in tongues demonize those who do and those who speak in tongues return the favour. Each of these camps has its tribal chiefs who have a cultic following. If you attack their shepherds, you will be panel-beaten with a myriad of scriptures to get you in line or out.
In responding to the issues of Chloe’s church, Paul noted the believers were acting like spiritual babies when they pitched Apollos against Paul (1 Corinthians 3:1). It begs me to ask, can we have mature conversation regarding our shepherds or other Christians without the camp fights? Are we able to mourn in sorrow and shame for our boasting of being Christ-like yet we act unChrist-like online and in person? We worship God with our lips but deny him with our actions.
This preamble is leading to a place where we can have a conversation on whether Christians who sin should they be punished or disciplined.
Biblically, punishment is not inflicted for the good of the offender. The wrongdoer is punished because they deserve it. When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their wickedness, it was not intended for their benefit. When a murderer was executed, it was not for their heart to change; instead they were being punished for wrongdoing. In the Old Testament, a woman who grabbed a man’s genitalia would have her hand cut off. A death punishment was given for offenses like adultery, bestiality, incest, cursing your father, bearing false witness and violation of the religious covenant [sorcery, sacrificing to idols, refusing to be circumcised, using anointing oil for common purposes, among others]. The penalty for theft was not the restitution of goods taken or their exact value in money given. No. The law had been broken and punishment was demanded. However, we still see the mercy of God expressed in the Psalms and the Biblical narratives.
In the New Testament, however, church discipline is encouraged even as the promise of the wicked being punished on judgment day is present. Paul in Galatians 2:11-14 rebuked Peter for not being honest about what he believes. To all believers, God through Paul says: ‘Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. ‘ (Galatians 6:1).
For that reason, we are told to avoid lazy believers bearing in mind they are not our enemies but our brothers and sisters (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15) and also avoid foolish discussions (2 Timothy 2:16). for people who cause divisions in the church, the Bible tells us to ‘give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them.’ (Titus 3:10).
The practice of church discipline is intended to reform the one who has sinned and prevent others from doing the same. It is different from punishment.
How is discipline to be done?
From the texts above, discipline ought to be with gentleness, humility, and care so we don’t likewise fall into the same sin.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Paul writes: ‘Stay away from every kind of evil’. Part of the charge to avoid believers on the path of destruction includes not rejoicing in the sin of wayward Christians “from another camp” or being secretary of other believers’ sins. We bear in mind God will punish all evil.
What of those whom we feel deserve to be punished? We obey Romans 12:17-19 ‘Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. ‘
We need to trust that God is a better judge than us and not let seeds of bitterness take root in our hearts.
What would be the net result of church discipline to the church?
The chief end of church discipline is to make us Christlike — for the offender and the one enforcing the discipline. The church is classified as the visible (local) church and the true church. When we practice church discipline the way God tells us to, we act like members of the regenerated people of God who constitute the true church. We live like people baptized by the Holy Spirit for whom Christ is Lord.
The challenge is that many churches in Africa do not practice church discipline. I imagine we struggle with it because the blood of our ethnicity is stronger than the blood of Jesus in our lives. In Kenya, local churches tend to have a majority membership of the senior pastor’s ethnicity. If this pastor was removed from leadership and a pastor from a different ethnicity appointed, the congregation would feel their people were being attacked. The discipline would, therefore, not be effected in full without causing the church to split.
Pastors hide behind ethnicity, gender, family history and social status in Kenya. Being a society that is heavy on shame and not guilt (for example many Kenyans would not feel guilty about stealing money for public healthcare as long as they are not caught), Christian congregations can’t bring themselves to obey 1 Timothy 5:20: ‘Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others.’ They, therefore, don’t experience the fruit of godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).
But how can we be called saints (Revelation 14:12), the called (1 Corinthians 1:18), a new person (Ephesians 2:10), God’s people (Romans 1:7), those made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5), born again (John 3:5), children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5), the righteous (James 5:16)…and we live incorrigible lives? If Christ is our foundation and head, we need to accept and dispense church discipline to be Christlike. The pain of the discipline will lead us to repent and change our ways and make us “more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. ‘ (2 Corinthians 7:11).
Alex Shianda is the author of ‘Celebrating Christ’.
