When discipline is naive
Barry Gritters examines the proper exercise of church discipline, warning against both extremes: excessive harshness and naive leniency. Drawing on Reformed Church Order principles and Scripture, he argues that gross and persistent sins require exceptional treatment and evidence of genuine repentance rather than quick reconciliation, demonstrating how discipline serves to save sinners, preserve the church, and glorify God.
In the discipline of some gross sins, churches risk error on the one hand by being brutal, on the other hand by being naive. The third mark of the true church -- the God-given and powerful tool of discipline that saves sinners, preserves the church, and glorifies God -- can be used wrongly. When it becomes brutal, discipline harms the sinner. When it is naive, discipline harms just about everyone. In neither case is discipline exercised properly. In both cases, it might not be discipline at...
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