On church discipline

Yesterday at my church's prayer meeting, something interesting happened; my favorite seminary president (again, the only one I know) preached a sermon from 1 Corinthians 5 about the necessity and reality of church discipline.

Two things struck me. First of all, Dr. Bauder noted that previous generations of Christians didn't just punish people for divorce and adultery; greed and other sins also qualified. Sobering...and I also seem to remember that the Puritans would punish fathers for failing to catechize their children. Maybe they were on to something.

Second, Dr. Bauder noted that physical illness is one reasonable explanation of the phrased "delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh." Certainly it might also be seen as destruction of fleshly inclinations, but another reasonable and probable understanding is that when someone living in sin becomes sick, that is God's way of bringing him to repentance.

In fact, exactly that was the main point of the sermon; the whole point of church discipline is not punishment, but rather restoration. We pray for the healing of the unrepentant sick man not as physical healing first, but as spiritual healing.

Bears some thought, I think.