tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373425720288771023.post1678974264130649759..comments2023-10-12T05:32:43.976-05:00Comments on Church Discipline: Mark Lauterbach comments from his blogCD-Hosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304535091189153224noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373425720288771023.post-74865977918954045672007-03-01T13:36:00.000-05:002007-03-01T13:36:00.000-05:00Sure I understand the intent. What I think is mis...Sure I understand the intent. What I think is missing on the web is a discussion from the defendent's point of view. Virtually everything is written from the paster/leader's point of view. So for example there are extensive discussions of which sorts of sins discipline should be applied to and almost nothing on helping people to weight the plusses and minuses of deciding on a response to discipline. The other thing that's missing is any discussion of what to do in complex cases. Virtually everything I read assumes the cases are relatively simple, and even in those in real life there are all sorts of complications. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Also church discipline can be a witch hunt, or a surgical procedure. I don't think you would assert that all of the time its not being used inappropriately. What would you say about things like J. Gresham Machen excommunication? And to take your metaphor a bit more literally than you meant it, the witches that were burned were very often subject to a mix of church and state discipline. The churches did convict them and then they quite intentionally handed them over to the state for "destruction of the flesh". The problem with church discipline is that it often asks people to evaluate very complex intangibles like "is he genuinely repentant?" rather than what normal courts rule on "was he near 1340 S 5th Street between 9:15 and 9:45?" <BR/><BR/>Anyway I just bought you book I'll have it in like 10 days or so. So expect a review by early April. :-)<BR/><BR/>While its not finished yet the series on defense talks about the purpose of discipline at length (but from the parishioner's pov). Hope you stick around it will be nice of have an expect commenting, regardless of what you want say.<BR/><BR/>Best wishes,<BR/>CD-HOSTCD-Hosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00304535091189153224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373425720288771023.post-70457611231752649562007-03-01T11:42:00.000-05:002007-03-01T11:42:00.000-05:00Thanks for the referral. Interesting blog you have...Thanks for the referral. Interesting blog you have here. Yes, church discipline is to be very patient and gracious as that is how Jesus walked this earth. It is not a witch hunt at all -- it is really a surgical procedure to remove a sickness from someone -- and the people doing the treatment are sick with the same kinds of sin. That calls for humility. It calls for the remedy of Christ.<BR/><BR/>But it is also important and necessary. Every professional organization has standards it sets for its members -- and has the right to remove someone from membership. So it is with the church.<BR/><BR/>I have seen this done over 30 times and done with beauty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com