Corrective Church Discipline

Doctrine  by 
Albert N. Martin

If you know that a path leads to a deadly cliff, will you ignore or warn anyone from going there? If you are a shepherd and a sheep goes astray, will you let it be or correct its direction? A child disciplined is a child loved, but why did many leaders today shy away from correcting?
Discipline may not sound pleasing. It gained a negative connotation in church history because of inquisitions, imprisonment, burning at stake, and other vicious and dehumanizing activities. But if we bring what the New Testament had said about church living, we can see that corrective discipline is an underappreciated means of grace that is essential for the church’s edification. So let’s reflect on our own shortcomings and remember that discipline is not mean to punish us but to transforms us. May we examine our lives and church in the light of God’s Word.