For some reason, doing the dishes vexes my wife. I think the process
feels futile to her: there’s always something else getting dirty,
something more that needs to be put away.
For me, dishes are no big deal. I’m more than happy to do them. But I’m
much less sure-footed when it comes to some other, fouler-smelling
messes around the house.
Most of us put some chores on our “dirty” list. These are the things
that make us hold our nose and look the other way. Things we would
swiftly delegate if we could.
When it comes to life in the church, I think that many of us treat
church discipline as a dirty chore. From private rebuke to public
exclusion, we can resent the whole process. We hold our nose and look
the other way as we go through the motions, eager to be done with all
the mess.
I don’t deny that dealing with sin in the church can be uncomfortable,
painful, and even disheartening. But we shouldn’t treat church
discipline as a dirty chore.
Corrective church discipline begins—and, praise the Lord, very often
ends—with one church member privately confronting the sin of another
member. In Matthew 18:15-20,
Jesus himself commands us to do this when our brother sins against us.
Then Jesus provides further instruction about what to do if the
individual doesn’t repent, ultimately culminating, if necessary, in
excluding him or her from the congregation. Keep Reading >>>
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