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From: cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (Jeff Williams)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Church Discipline
Message-ID: <653@ihnp4.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Sep-84 12:56:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihnp4.653
Posted: Thu Sep 20 12:56:51 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 08:21:23 EDT
References: <905@houxm.UUCP>, <991@akgua.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 41

When speaking of church discipline, everyone so far has
talked of "dress codes," and "undesirable people."  In
the congregation where I am an elder (Missouri Synod Lutheran),
you can see dress from coats and ties to blue jeans.  But,
this is not concerning disipline, this concerns tolerence.

Church disipline concerns the unrepentent sinner.  Christ
speaks of this in Matthew 17:15 (NIV) -
	"If your brother sins against you, go and show
	him his fault, just between the two of you.  If
	he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
	But, if he will not listen, take one or two others
	along, so that every matter may be established by 
	the testimony 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, treat
	him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

	I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth
	will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
	on earth will be loosed in heaven."

From this passage, we get both the excommunication process,
and the "Office of the Keys and Confession."  The one problem
in applying this procedure is that of determining the "unrepentent
sinner."  The only criteria that you can use to judge unrepentence
is that of "repeat offenders."  If I am really repentent, and am
truely sorry for sinning, I will do my best not to sin like that
in the future.  If I can be shown to attempt not to repeat the sin,
but "back-slide," I am still repentent.

Several months ago, "Leadership" magazine had an article concerning
the excommunication of a church member because of adultry.  (Actually,
two members of the congregation were involved, and both were treated
according to Matthew 17.)  Church leaders are very reluctent to use
this procedure simply because we can never be SURE of what is in a
person's heart.

				Jeff Williams
				AT&T Bell Laboratories
				ihnp4!cfiaime