HOW TO DISCIPLINE CORRECTLY
TEXT- 2 CORINTHIANS 2:1-11
INTRODUCTION
This morning I am going to continue with the series of sermons I have been delivering from the book of Second Corinthians on the topic of ministry.
This morning our text is found in 2 Corinthians 2:1-11 and the title of my message is, "How To Discipline Correctly".
Church discipline is not a popular subject or a widespread practice. Too many churches simply sweep the sins of people “under the rug” instead of obeying the Bible and confronting the sin in love and compassion. This “peace at any price” attitude is not biblical because there can never be true peace without having spiritual purity. And the sins that are “swept under the rug” have a tendency to multiply and create even worse problems later.
As we learned the last time we studied from this book, one of the reasons why the Apostle Paul was so successful in his ministry was because he had a clear conscience in all that he did. Another reason why he was so successful was because he had a compassionate heart.
In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians he had rebuked this church for ignoring the sin that was prevalent in its congregation.
A woman was attending a church and brought her dog and left it in the car. The dog was very well known among the membership because its name was "sin." Another member seeing the dog in the car, felt sorry for it and let it out. Pretty soon the dog found its way into the church building looking for its owner. As the pastor was preaching his message he noticed the dog walking down the center aisle and shouted, "sin is in the church." Immediately one of the members jumped and asked, "what kind of sin?" and then another chimed in and asked, "who sinned?"
Sin is in every church. Some think that the church is supposed to be a shrine for saints, but in actuality it is a sanctuary for sinners.
That doesn't mean that we are to condone sin, but it does mean that we should be compassionate towards those who sin. We don’t have to approve of sin, but we do have to accept the sinner. Does that make sense?
When Paul wrote to this church the first time he also encouraged them to discipline those who had refused to repent of their sins.
Being a member of one of the Lord's churches is like being a member of a family. If you love your children then you will discipline them when they have done wrong. I didn’t appreciate the discipline that I received from my parents when I was a child. And I must admit that I deserved a lot more discipline than what I received. But I now understand that the reason why my parents hurt me was to hinder me from harming myself. That’s what discipline is for. We don’t like stop signs. They are very inconvenient at times. But you must admit that if there weren’t any stop signs, many more people would be hurt.
As we examine this passage today, we will find that Paul mentions five principles regarding discipline. Let's look now and see how we can apply these things to our lives today as members of one of the Lord's churches.