October 20, 2005 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is from the Advanced Bible Studies Series course on “The New Testament Church,” available from Way of Life Literature:

“Prevention is the best medicine.” This is true in church discipline as well as in other areas of life. God’s goal in disciplining His children is to cause them to live the right kind of lives. He does not want to punish us. He simply wants to instruct us from His Word by His Spirit and have us obey (Ps. 32:8-9). He punishes only when we refuse to follow His instructions. Preventive discipline, then, is everything the church does in an attempt to cause the members to live obedient lives and to avoid the need for disciplinary correction.

1. PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH HAVING BIBLE STANDARDS FOR CHURCH MEMBERS (Ac. 2:41-42). This is a very basic and essential part of church discipline. It is impossible to keep the church pure unless efforts are made to guard the door into church membership by seeking to ascertain if people are born again and committed to the N.T. faith before they are brought onto the church roll.

2. PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH HAVING BIBLE STANDARDS FOR CHURCH OFFICERS AND WORKERS (1 Ti. 3; Jam. 3:1). One of the most important ways to encourage high moral standards in a church body is to maintain high standards for those who teach and who are involved in any capacity of leadership. These are the people who will set the moral tone for the assembly. The average church member cannot be expected to live a higher standard of Christianity than his officers. If the teachers and deacons are worldly and participate in questionable practices, their students will normally follow this poor example and will be even more worldly than the teachers. It is wise to have written guidelines which state the various standards which are expected of any person who is looked upon as a teacher or officer in the church family.

3. PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH THE PREACHING AND TEACHING MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH. The word translated “chasten” in Heb. 12:6 is translated “instruct” in 2 Tim. 3:16, showing that discipline comes through the Scriptures. Church discipline is exercised when the leaders teach and preach the Bible in such a way that God’s people are built up in the faith and become obedient and fruitful. The nature of a church’s preaching and teaching will largely (but not entirely, of course) determine its character. Church leaders who faithfully preach the Bible are thereby disciplining their members. This ministry requires that the Bible be preached plainly and that it be applied to the daily living of the hearers. Proverbs 6:23 says “reproofs of instruction are the way of life.”   The modern “self-esteem” type of ministry will not discipline the church in holiness. Preaching in vague generalities and using examples which miss the mark of the actual condition of the church family, will not get the job done, either. If people can sit year after year under the preaching of a pastor and remain carnal and worldly and unfruitful, there is something seriously wrong with the man’s preaching. Sound preaching will drive people one way or the other. It will not allow them to be comfortable in their sin. The focus today on “church growth” rather than on strict faithfulness to God and His Word has encouraged a generation of cowardly preachers who refuse to rebuke sin plainly. Such “preaching” will not provide the discipline that the church needs to remain pure before God.

4. PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH THE PASTORAL MINISTRY OF THE LEADERS (1 Th. 2:7-12; Col. 1:28). While the preaching ministry of the church is crucial, there is also the need for a personal, private ministry to individuals. Personal attention and love is necessary. This is encompassed in the title of “pastor,” which means shepherd. Many Christians have become discouraged because of the failure of church leaders to love and help them on an individual basis. I recall such a case in a church some years ago. The pastor faithfully and in great detail taught the Bible, but he did not exercise a personal ministry to the members, and it is not unlikely that this failure was partially to blame for the subsequent divorce of two young married couples in the church. The pastor did not visit the couples and try to help them privately. He did not have time for them. Today two of the people involved have returned to the Lord and to the church, but their lives are marred and broken by the pain of divorce. It was their own sin that brought this ruin upon them, but it is also possible that the divorces could have been avoided had the pastor fulfilled his responsibility as a shepherd. Contrast this failure with the following testimony of a genuine pastor who recognizes the importance of shepherding his flock:

“I truly long to be of service to you as your pastor. When I first got saved, I thought pastors were half human and half divine and that it was good to stay away from them. As a result, I did not grow as I should. Had I known that I could approach my pastor, there were many questions he could have answered for me, and there was much needed counseling that he could have given me. ... There is a very tender relationship between the shepherd and the sheep, and our Lord wills it thus for the pastor and the members of the church family. When you have sickness, problems, and other difficulties, please call me. ... I am busy, but not too busy to be concerned to help you with your burdens and heartaches” (James Crumpton, New Testament Church Discipline). See Ps. 23; Je. 23:1-4; Jn. 10:11-30; Ac. 20:28-32; 1 Th. 2; 1 Pe. 5:1-4.

Richard Baxter, a 17th-century pastor, spent much of his time dealing personally with his people, with amazing results. He found that many of the people did not get much from his preaching but that they responded to his personal ministrations. “I have found by experience, that some ignorant persons, who have been so long unprofitable hearers, have got more knowledge and remorse of conscience in half an hour’s close disclosure, than they did from ten years’ public preaching” (Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, 1656). Thus he began the practice of spending two days a week, from morning to evening, with the help of two assistants, visiting his church members and their neighbors and acquaintances in their homes, teaching them and leading them to the truth. This was in addition to the regular Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday services. When he left that pastorate, there were entire streets where every single family served Christ, whereas when he began, there had been only one or two families.

5. PREVENTIVE DISCIPLINE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH THE FELLOWSHIP AND MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH MEMBERS ONE TO ANOTHER. It is not enough for the church leaders to preach and shepherd the flock. They are limited in number and simply cannot do everything that is needed for the sanctification of the assembly. The members must minister to one another day by day. Every Christian, therefore, has a vital part in maintaining the discipline of the church. The members are to teach one another (Col. 3:16), exhort and correct one another (He. 3:12-14; 10:24-25; Ro. 15:14), minister to one another (1 Pe. 4:9-10), comfort one another (1 Th. 4:18; 5:11), love and forgive one another (Ro. 12:10; Ga. 5:13; Ep. 4:32; Col. 3:13; 1 Pe. 3:8), visit and help the sick and widows (Jam. 1:27), confess faults to one another and pray for one another (Jam. 5:16).