CREATIVE CHURCH DISCIPLINE - Christianity Today

The following ad appeared recently in a Kansas daily: “We will oil your sewing machine and adjust the tension in your home for only $1.” I can well imagine the flood of phone calls this company received. Where in our world exists the home without tension?

Where is there a church family without at least some tension? And where tension erupts, the need is for gentle but firm discipline.

Before you write this off as another sermon on the “thou shalts” of disciplining church members, let me confess that exercising discipline makes me as shaky as a woodpecker on a petrified tree.

I come by my quaking honestly. I learned in schoolyard “conflict resolution sessions” that my pain threshold was reached with the first punch. I carefully avoided stepping on toes or making a scene, even when Ross Spina, the local bully, extorted my lunch money. From then on, I decided that playing the enforcer was for fiery preachers and IRS agents. That, most likely, is why God in his infinite sense of humor made me one of those preachers.

When I look at the Scriptures on church discipline, the story of Ananias and Sapphira is one of my favorites. Can’t you picture Peter and the others the day those two pulled the real estate scam at the congregational meeting? God’s discipline was, uh, executed most efficiently. The apostles didn’t have to agonize over what they were going to do. God made the decision for them. But I wonder how long it took the apostles to realize God was making a point, not stamping a pattern.

The Bible certainly contains the principles upon which creative discipline must be based, but using this incident to determine disciplinary technique becomes slippery. What if God struck dead every liar, gossip, cheat, swindler, or adulterer? That would clear out my church! We can thank our merciful Lord that we don’t all drop dead.

Since God does not impose immediate capital punishment in every case, I must learn to use other disciplinary methods. I’ve got to learn to neither avoid discipline nor take it too far. With the threat of lawsuits in our litigious society, we need to think through creative alternatives; we certainly can do better than “boot ’em out and lock the door.”

As I wend my way through the day-to-day tensions of church life, I find the discipline of church members demands as much creativity as the discipline of children-if not more. Creativity is the action of the Spirit of God leading us through situations that are not always cut and dried. When I’m about ready to scream, “God, why don’t they all drop dead?” I begin to rummage in the store of creative solutions I’ve found.

Prayer Closet Confrontations

In Luke 22 Jesus says to Peter, “Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” In this passage, Jesus uses an often-overlooked tool for discipline: the prayer closet confrontation.

Many forces are at work in any instance of disobedience and sin. In Peter’s case, his pride would soon cause him to sleep through a prayer meeting, deny his Lord, and blow a great chance to witness in the courtyard of the high priest. Jesus was praying that when the wheat was sifted, Peter would be strong enough to learn from it all. His prayer was the life line that pulled Peter through.

A friend of mine invited an evangelist to conduct a week of meetings in his church. On the final day, the evangelist decided to change his message and deliver a sermon on holiness, but my friend considered the issue too touchy to allow. Several weeks later he received a letter from that evangelist: “I have been praying that soon you will stop resisting the Holy Spirit and let him have control of your life.”

The interval between the last meeting and the arrival of the letter had been a period of wretched despondency. The letter and the prayers had their effect, and a while later, my friend told me he’d stopped trying to manipulate the atmosphere in his church and he was surrendering his life and future to the Spirit.

It’s easy to play armchair quarterback in matters of discipline. I can see all the changes others should make, even if I’d be paralyzed by indecision if I had to play the actual position. I’m learning (slowly) that I can start getting into the game by prayer. And on some occasions, a prayerful response may keep me out of the games where I’m not needed.

The value of praying for those needing discipline is at least threefold: First, during this time of prayerful waiting, God may allow more facts to surface that will help me deal with the situation. Second, as I pray, I have an opportunity to clear the log out of my own eye. Third, since God responds to faith-filled prayer, I may not need to do anything more, and that’s what I’d prefer, anyway.

Two years ago, one of our elders began a Bible study in his home. He started teaching doctrines I taught against. I didn’t mind his believing those ideas; I just found it difficult to have a church leader laying out a system of truth different from what I taught. I fretted and fumed over the impending confrontation until one night, after fasting all day, God led me to pray that this man would give up the study.

Three days later he came into my office and told me he was voluntarily disbanding the study. He felt it might be dividing the body. We jointly confessed some wrong attitudes we had been carrying around. He now accepts my leadership and is a vocal supporter. And I am rethinking some of his doctrines I thought I had nailed down. God sifted us both.

Homework Assignments

Few professions match the risk of a connector in the construction industry. A connector’s job is to walk the ten-inch girders and stand at the corner as a multi-ton beam comes swinging his direction. As it slows down, he must grab it, shove it into place, and bolt it tight. It’s not a job for the careless or timid.

Connectors have a unique system for disciplining apprentice workers who get too cocky or too timid. The other workers will grab the offender’s boots and throw them on the roof of an adjacent building. Then they rig a plank for him to walk across to retrieve his footwear. They’ll repeat the procedure until the offender changes his ways (or falls to the pavement, whichever comes first). The beauty of this aerial method of discipline is that it teaches a skill while correcting an attitude.

The business of serving God is as precipitous as constructing skyscrapers. Since we are commissioned to watch out for one another, we are wise to train one another in the perils we face. Those who ignore the dangers or who have overstepped the boundaries of God’s Word need discipline in a manner not unlike that given to connectors.

Homework helps are creative modes of discipline that keep the wayward ones active and learning instead of cast out and defeated.

In college, I exuded all the attributes of a freshman; I was brash, unashamed, ignorant, and foolhardy. On a lark, four of us armed ourselves with a messy mixture of molasses and honey, which we slopped on every doorknob, banister, and toilet seat in the girls’ dorm. We made our way back to our beds in gallant confidence.

But we were found out. Some students and members of the faculty wanted us expelled, but the disciplinary decree was for us to do forty hours of work for the maintenance department.

Cleaning out an overflowed sump hole, I had plenty of time to think not only about my prank but also about my relationship with God, who showed me that the sewage I was hauling resembled the kind of product my life was producing. I credit part of my present walk with God to what I learned through that creative discipline.

It is one thing, however, to discipline students who have a ten-thousand-dollar investment in their education but quite another to hand out homework to a church member who might not be as motivated to cooperate.

I initially tried this idea on a woman who had been creating chaos in several personal relationships. I gave her the menial chore of keeping my file cabinet orderly, thinking I could monitor her work to help teach her consistency. Right away, two disconcerting things occurred. The woman stopped coming to church because I was “treating her like a kid,” and our secretary threatened to resign under the false assumption she, too, was being disciplined.

I decided my ideas could bear some modification. These folks were adults with sensitive egos. As James Dobson puts it, I had to “shape their wills without breaking their spirits.”

I soon had another chance. One of our youth sponsors got in trouble with the law. It turned out, fortunately, I was the only one in the church who knew about it. The fellow came to me in tears, asking for help in getting his life together. I told him I would counsel him on two conditions: I wanted him to resign as youth sponsor, but I also wanted him to continue helping by driving for the young people whenever they needed drivers. He agreed wholeheartedly and did the job well. Now, several years later, he is once again serving as a youth sponsor.

The key was timing and approach. As people in trouble admit their need, I try to respond tenderly. Once they feel assured of my sincerity, I suggest ways they can be useful during their recovery. I present the tasks to them as spiritual therapy, even writing an “Rx” on the assignment sheet as a private joke. They like the idea of leaving the pastor’s office with a “prescription.” It gives them a concrete first step toward restoration.

A Sequence of Suspension

In his autobiography, Lee Iacocca tells about being fired by Henry Ford. As Iacocca relates it, Ford employed some rather dubious means to “disemploy” him, finally letting him go with the classic evasion: “Things just haven’t worked out.”

When Iacocca moved to Chrysler, he vowed never to deal that way with a human being. He decided if anyone appeared to warrant firing, he would seek every possible way first to retain him, and then, if all else failed, to tell him the straight reasons-in person.

In many churches today, the response to moral crises, if anything, is often complete removal from office and even expulsion from the fellowship. I’ve resolved to seek methods to save members rather than segregate them. That’s where a suspension-a temporary stoppage-may be the answer.

When I worked on the railway one summer, our gang was called to the site of a horrendous derailment. The flaming contents of six spilled chemical cars had burned every piece of wood on a steel-and-timber railroad bridge. All trains had to be stopped as we feverishly worked to bring things back to normal. What a mess would have been created if trains had tried to run as usual over the span; what a waste if the railway had declared financial dissolution over this temporary setback.

The same holds true for correcting God’s people. I have found a temporary imposition of discipline will go much further towards restoration and recovery than permanent expulsion. The removal of all involvements on a temporary basis can strengthen weak legs.

Recall what God did after Moses’ initial attempt to liberate Israel; he arranged a forty-year stint in the sheep business for his servant. But it was always God’s intention to bring Moses back into leadership. The sojourn was critical to develop in Moses the proper attitude with which to lead some obstinate “sheep” through a perilous wilderness.

Ideally, a temporary suspension gives the individual time to consider life without the static of church responsibilities. With the right attitudes, this time of sober contemplation proves effective. But what happens if the person gets worse instead of better? Then more stringent discipline is needed to correct malignant actions.

But before I implement those tougher measures, I want the church to understand the difference between release and revenge. As emotions begin to flow, the distinction between correction and punishment begins to blur.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul’s primary purpose for proposing discipline for the incestuous man was to call the church away from pride about its own moral liberality. He was moving them toward the reality of discipline, the imperative of purity within the church. Yet, in 2 Corinthians 2, Paul felt the need to say “treat him gently or you’ll lose him forever.” He recognized how easy it is to overdo collective discipline. Releasing a member from his responsibilities does not release the body from its obligation to love him.

Since we began using temporary suspension rather than automatic expulsion, we have witnessed it work in almost every case. After a time of reflection, suspended members come back to us penitent and renewed, allowing us to guide them into their future ministries.

Even when suspension failed to work, we knew that release was better than revenge.

Learning from “Auckward” Situations

Michael Wilson flew from Honolulu to Los Angeles aboard an Air New Zealand flight. When he arrived in the terminal at Los Angeles, he heard the loudspeaker announce an immediate departure for Oakland. Since this was his desired destination, he boarded the plane and settled in for the quick hop north. When the plane took off, he found it peculiar that they kept flying west. After an hour he collared a stewardess and asked where the plane was headed. “Auckland,” she replied.

When the flight arrived in New Zealand, the airline offered to fly Wilson back to L.A. on the next flight, but he declined. Though it hadn’t been his intention to fly to New Zealand, he decided to get all the benefit out of it he could. He stayed for three days!

None of us sets off in the morning hoping to find a disciplinary case waiting in the office. But most of us can remember mornings with such a scenario. Although our first inclination may be to get out of it as quickly as possible, we can develop the skill to make the most of serendipitous opportunities when they arise.

With people going to court over supposed improprieties in church discipline, many pastors sit on the edge of their seats when moral disasters are discovered. I like to think the same Holy Spirit who moved in Creation can creatively guide our loving hands in discipline.

Michael E. Phillips is pastor of Lake Windermere Alliance Church, lnvermere, British Columbia.