Commitment to Accountability and Church Discipline
And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)
Like all of our Relational Commitments, the principles
and practices described below apply to all the people
who attend our church (both members and attenders).
A. Accountability and Discipline Are Signs of God’s Love
God has established the church to reflect his character, wisdom and glory in the midst of
a fallen world (Ephesians 3:10-11). He loves his church so much that he sent his Son to
die for her (Ephesians 5:25). His ultimate purpose for his church is to present her as a gift
to his Son; thus Scripture refers to the church as the “bride” of Christ (Revelation 19:7).
For this reason the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are continually working to purify the
church and bring her to maturity (Ephesians 5:25-27).
This does not mean that God expects the church to be made up of perfectly pure people.
He knows that the best of churches are still companies of sinners who wrestle daily with
remaining sin (1 John 1:8; Philippians 3:12). Therefore, it would be unbiblical for us to
expect church members to live perfectly. What we can do, however, is confess our
common struggle with sin and our mutual need for God’s mercy and grace. We also can
spur one another on toward maturity by encouraging and holding each other accountable
to love, seek after, and obey God with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength, and to
love others as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31; Hebrews 10:24-25).
The Bible sometimes refers to this process of mutual encouragement and accountability
as “discipline.” The Bible never presents church discipline as being negative, legalistic or
harsh, as modern society does. True discipline originates from God himself and is always
presented as a sign of genuine love. “The Lord disciplines those he loves” (Hebrews
12:6). “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law”
(Psalm 94:12). “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (Revelation 3:19).
God’s discipline in the church, like the discipline in a good family, is intended to be
primarily positive, instructive and encouraging. This process, which is sometimes
referred to as “formative discipline,” involves preaching, teaching, prayer, personal Bible
study, small group fellowship and countless other enjoyable activities that challenge and
encourage us to love and serve God more wholeheartedly.
On rare occasions God’s discipline, like the discipline in a family with growing children,
also may have a corrective purpose. When we forget or disobey what God has taught us,
he corrects us. One way he does this is to call the church to seek after us and lead us back
onto the right track. This process, which is sometimes called “corrective” or “restorative”
discipline, is likened in Scripture to a shepherd seeking after a lost sheep.
If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave
the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if
he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off (Matthew 18:12-13).
Thus, restorative or corrective discipline is never to be done in a harsh, vengeful or self-
righteous manner. It is always to be carried out in humility and love, with the goals of restoring someone to a close walk with Christ (Matthew 18:15; Galatians 6:1), protecting
others from harm (1 Corinthians 5:6), and showing respect for the honor and glory of
God’s name (1 Peter 2:12).
Biblical discipline is similar to the discipline we value in other aspects of life. We admire
parents who consistently teach their children how to behave properly and lovingly
discipline them when they disobey. We value music teachers who bring out the best in
their students by teaching them proper technique and consistently pointing out their errors
so they can play a piece properly. And we applaud athletic coaches who diligently teach
their players to do what is right and correct them when they fumble, so that the team
works well together and can compete for the championship.
The same principles apply to the family of God. We, too, need to be taught what is right
and to be lovingly corrected when we do something contrary to what God teaches us in
his Word. Therefore, we as a church are committed to help one another obey God’s
command to be “self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined” (Titus 1:8).
The leaders of our church recognize that God has called them to an even higher level of
accountability regarding their faith and conduct (James 3:1; 1 Timothy 5:19-20).
Therefore, they are committed to listening humbly to loving correction from each other or
from any member in our church, and, if necessary, to submitting themselves to the
corrective discipline of our body.
B. Most Corrective Discipline Is Private, Personal and Informal
God gives every believer grace to be self-disciplined. “For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Thus
discipline always begins as a personal matter and usually remains that way, as each of us
studies God’s Word, seeks him in prayer, and draws on his grace to identify and change
sinful habits and grow in godliness.
But sometimes we are blind to our sins or so tangled in them that we cannot get free on
our own. This is why the Bible says, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who
are spiritual should restore him gently” (Galatians 6:1). In obedience to this command,
we are committed to giving and receiving loving correction within our church whenever a
sin (whether in word, behavior or doctrine) seems too serious to overlook (Proverbs
19:11). If repeated private conversations do not lead another person to repentance, Jesus
commands that we ask other brothers or sisters to get involved. “If he will not listen, take
one or two others along” (Matthew 18:16). If informal conversations with these people
fail to resolve the matter, then we may seek the involvement of more influential people,
such as a small group leader, Sunday school teacher or church leader. If even these
efforts fail to bring a brother or sister to repentance, and if the issue is too serious to
overlook, we will move into what may be called “formal discipline.”
C. Formal Discipline May Involve the Entire Church
If an individual persistently refuses to listen to personal and informal correction to turn
from speech or behavior that the Bible defines as sin, Jesus commands us to “tell it to the
church” (Matthew 18:17a). This first involves informing one or more church leaders
about the situation. If the offense is not likely to cause imminent harm to others, our
leaders may approach the individual privately to personally establish the facts and
encourage repentance of any sin they discover. The individual will be given every
reasonable opportunity to explain and defend his or her actions. If the individual
recognizes his sin and repents, the matter usually ends there, unless a confession to
additional people is needed.
If an offense is likely to harm others or lead them into sin, or cause division or disruption,
our leaders may accelerate the entire disciplinary process and move promptly to protect
the church (Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Titus 3:10-11).
As the disciplinary process progresses, our leaders may impose a variety of sanctions to
encourage repentance, including but not limited to private and public admonition,
withholding of the Lord’s Supper, removal from office, withdrawal of normal fellowship,
and removal from membership (Matthew 5:23-24; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Matthew
18:17).
If the straying individual does not repent in response to private appeals from our leaders,
they may inform others in the church who may be able to influence that individual or be
willing to pray for him or her, or people who might be harmed or affected by that
person’s behavior. This step may include the entire congregation if our leaders deem it to
be appropriate (Matthew 18:17, 1 Timothy 5:20).
If, after a reasonable period of time, the individual still refuses to change, then our leaders
may formally remove him or her from membership and normal fellowship. They also
may inform the church body of their decision and instruct the congregation to treat the
individual as an unbeliever. This means that we will no longer treat him as a fellow
Christian. Instead of having casual, relaxed fellowship with the individual, we will look
for opportunities to lovingly bring the gospel to him, remind him of God’s holiness and
mercy, and call him to repent and put his faith in Christ (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians
5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20)
We realize that our natural human response to correction often is to hide or run away
from accountability (Genesis 3:8-10). To avoid falling into this age-old trap and to
strengthen our church’s ability to rescue us if we are caught in sin, we agree not to run
away from this church to avoid corrective discipline. Therefore, we waive our right to
withdraw from membership or accountability if discipline is pending against us.
Although we are free to stop attending the church at any time, we agree that a withdrawal while discipline is pending will not be given effect until the church has fulfilled its God-
given responsibilities to encourage our repentance and restoration, and to bring the disciplinary process to an orderly conclusion, as described in these Commitments
(Matthew 18:12-14; Galatians 6:1; Hebrews 13:17).
If an individual leaves the church while discipline is in effect or is being considered, and
our leaders learn that he or she is attending another church, they may inform that church
of the situation and ask its leaders to encourage the individual to repent and be reconciled
to the Lord and to any people he or she has offended. This action is intended both to help
the individual find freedom from his sin and to warn the other church about the harm that
he or she might do to their members (see Matthew 18:12-14; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 3 John 1:9-10).
Loving restoration always stands at the heart of the disciplinary process. If an individual
repents, and our leaders confirm his or her sincerity, we will rejoice together and gladly
imitate God’s forgiveness by restoring the person to fellowship within the body (see
Matthew 18:13; Luke 15:3-7, 11-32; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Colossians 3:12-14).
People who have been excluded from another church will not be allowed to partake of the
ordinances in our church, to become members, or to participate in the regular fellowship
of our church until they have repented of their sins and made a reasonable effort to be
reconciled, or our leaders have determined that the discipline of the former church was
not biblically appropriate.
As we pursue the blessings of accountability and church discipline, we will hold fast to
the promise of Scripture: “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his
holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it
produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it”
(Hebrews 12:10-11).
5 For example, if we confronted a man in our church for seducing young women, or for acting
inappropriately around little children, or for sowing gossip and division, and he left and started attending
another church, we would consider it our duty to urge the leaders of that church to counsel with him and to
protect their people from his harmful behavior.