The church is the only God-ordained institution that will endure for eternity. That gives the local church a seriousness, legitimacy, and authority unlike any other earthly institution. Yet many pastors and Christians do not recognize the weight of that calling because many churches neglect essential elements of what the New Testament teaches about the church.

The Reformers rightly emphasized three marks of a faithful church: the faithful preaching of the Word of God, the proper administration of the sacraments, and the practice of church discipline. Church discipline is not an optional addition to the church’s life. It is part of Christ’s care for His people. A church that refuses to practice discipline is seriously disordered and is failing to live faithfully under Christ’s authority.

Why has church discipline fallen out of step in much of the American church? To many people in an individualistic and inclusive society, it feels harsh. How could someone be denied the Lord’s Supper? Is that not too dogmatic? Are church discipline and biblical accountability merely archaic ideas?

Jesus Addresses Church Discipline

Before drawing conclusions, we should consider the primary text on church discipline. Jesus says in Matthew 18:15–17:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Several Thoughts About the Passage

• Confrontation over sin begins privately. It is not a matter for gossip or disguised prayer requests. Christ commands us to go to a brother or sister personally and lovingly.
• The principle applies beyond personal offenses. Matthew 18 directly addresses sin committed against another person, but its concern for holiness, repentance, and restoration also bears on known and unrepentant sin within the church.
• Listening means responding with repentance. When Jesus says, “If he listens to you, you have gained your brother,” He means more than merely hearing words. The desired outcome is a repentant response to loving biblical correction.
• Not every case unfolds in precisely the same way. Matthew 18 gives the ordinary pattern for addressing sin. Public, scandalous, or disqualifying sin may require elders to act promptly and openly, as Scripture teaches in passages such as 1 Corinthians 5 and 1 Timothy 5:19–20.
• To be treated as a Gentile and a tax collector is to be regarded as outside the covenant community. This does not mean hatred or indifference. It means the church can no longer affirm the person’s profession of faith while he or she remains unrepentant. Such a person should not partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Is This the Cruelty of God or the Kindness of God?

Paul says in Romans 2:4 that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” When a brother, sister, or an entire church confronts someone in unrepentant sin and that person is brought back to repentance, this is not cruelty. It is the loving kindness and mercy of God at work.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes a similar point in Life Together: “Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.”

Church Discipline Displays the Love of God

Jesus’ teaching on discipline follows His parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12–14. The connection matters. In the parable, the shepherd goes after the sheep that has wandered from the flock:

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

Church discipline is one of the means by which the Great Shepherd pursues His sheep when they wander. It is not opposed to love. It is an expression of Christ’s love for His people and His desire for their holiness, repentance, and restoration.

Church discipline is a sign of the Great Shepherd coming after His own who have gone astray.

Concluding Thoughts

Perspective changes everything. We should not view church discipline as a cruel or judgmental procedure. We should see it as God’s ordained means of keeping His sheep near to Him, which is for their good and for His glory.

When we are confronted over sin, we should listen with humility and repent where repentance is needed. When we must confront a brother or sister, we should do so in love, with patience, truthfulness, and the goal of restoration. This is the love of the Good Shepherd for His church.