The Thirteenth Discipline: Formative and Reformative Discipline in Congregational Life

By Lionel M. Moriah and Harry Gardner

Perhaps the most critical issue for healthy, growing churches is member care or life together, in keeping with the biblical emphasis on allalon--"one another." Member care demands that believers be passionately concerned for one another's spiritual welfare and physical and social well-being. This mutual care may be expressed in different ways, but they are always to be directed to the needs of the members of the body of Christ. That is the approach taken by the author of this book, which focuses on what may be construed as a negative subject--discipline. The hope is that a careful reading will reveal that Christian discipline, seen holistically, may be a most rewarding ministry, one that brings many benefits to healthy, growing churches as it nurtures loving relationships among people who care enough to speak the truth with love, as Jesus did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Jul 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781630877217

Lionel M. Moriah

Lionel M. Moriah is Associate Professor of the John Gladstone Chair of Preaching and Worship at Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Book preview

The Thirteenth Discipline

Formative and Reformative Discipline in Congregational Life

Lionel M. Moriah

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The Thirteenth Discipline

Formative and Reformative Discipline in Congregational Life

Copyright © 2011 Lionel M. Moriah. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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ISBN 13: 978-1-61097-062-4

EISBN 13: 978-1-63087-721-7

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971. National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

The author wishes to acknowledge the kind permission of Carters Professional Corporation to quote at length from a number of its publications.

Foreword

In the last two decades, since the Church Growth movement reached its height in North America, several themes have emerged that have spoken to church leaders. Among these are emphases on spiritual renewal and spiritual formation, both of which have focused primarily on the internal spiritual life of the church. The call to build healthy congregations and churches is not the least of the trumpets that have sounded. Authors have penned books enumerating the factors and principles needed to build healthy congregations. You will go far to find a book among them that cites Christian discipline as a characteristic of church health.

But Dr. Lionel Moriah does not simply view Christian discipline as a contributing factor of church health. He helps us appreciate its central importance in the life of the church. Most of us would not expect to find the practice of Christian discipline emerging as central to the modus operandi of a healthy church.

This book combines a scholarly treatment of the topic examining the biblical record, church history, and contemporary church life. In addition, the reader will be offered practical applications one would expect from an experienced church theologian.

Examining the biblical record of what it means to live in God’s covenant community, readers are challenged to bring the other before one’s mind. This comes at a time when the swift current in literature surrounding Christian discipleship and formation is focused on the individual. To live as a follower of Christ is a call to life in covenant community. This brings great privilege, mutuality, and responsibility.

I appreciated Dr. Moriah’s emphasis that at the heart of Christian discipline is the goal of restoration when it is at all possible. Citing helpful scenarios, the reader will be encouraged with the positive implications of Christian discipline among a congregation of believers.

The book was birthed from a pastoral practitioner who had the desire to mine the biblical, historical, and contemporary records for the gold of life in covenant Christian community. When all is well in a congregation, that is one reality; this book explores how to approach Christian discipline when all of life is not well and to do it in a God-honoring way.

If you desire an intensive biblical study on this topic, this book will serve you well. If you are looking for practical steps for weaving this emphasis into the life of your congregation, this book will also be helpful for you. If you need a better understanding of Christian discipline, you too will be blessed.

I have heard it said that to belong to Jesus is to belong to everyone else who belongs to Jesus. Dr. Moriah’s book enables the reader to realize that the very fabric of Christian discipline is not an add-on to the development of a healthy church or congregation. It is in fact part of God’s DNA for His people.

Dr. Harry G. Gardner

President Dean of Theology Professor of Church Leadership

Acadia Divinity College

Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Preface

In this work, I argue for the restoration or revitalization of Christian discipline as a fundamental, biblically mandated, and essential ministry in healthy Christian congregations, and seek to offer practical advice to churches on how it might be carried out. The book’s foundation is my thesis, Christian Discipline: Legalism or Covenant Responsibility ?, submitted to the Doctor of Ministry program at Acadia Divinity College in 1997. That work was grounded in biblical study, in my seventeen years of pastoral experience in Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada, on primary qualitative research, and on a survey of relevant secondary literature. In preparing this manuscript, I have sought to update the material, bringing to it a further thirteen years of pastoral experience and six years’ experience teaching seminary students. I have also, where appropriate, canvassed current literature on various aspects of the subject.

The title, The Thirteenth Discipline, is a deliberate reference to Richard Foster’s landmark Celebration of Discipline, a work in which he explores twelve practices through whose intentional cultivation Christians may come to experience the fullness of the Christian life. Foster refers to them as classical disciplines, which he believes are central to experiential Christianity¹—i.e., they are practices all Christians should build into the fabric of their daily lives. Foster groups the disciplines into three sets: Under the rubric of inward disciplines he discusses meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. The four he calls outward disciplines are simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. Finally, he describes four corporate disciplines—confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. I hope to persuade readers that Christian discipline is an appropriate, indeed, a necessary addition to this last set: Christian discipline can make a significant impact on the lives of individual Christians, and through the serious, committed effort of faithful congregations, the formative and reformative power of Christian discipline can demonstrate to the world the wonder of God’s transforming grace.

I have three hopes for this book: First, that its contents might go some way toward satisfying the church’s current need for resources to support the practice of sound Christian discipline. Second, that it might stimulate further research and diligent pursuit of ways in which churches can exercise discipline faithfully, courageously, and lovingly, in keeping with the biblical witness. Finally, I hope that the discussion it contains and the resources it provides will assist and support all involved in the ministry of the church who struggle in this post-modern world, where—to paraphrase a colleague—a culture of fear of giving offense may well be the greatest obstacle to the practice of Christian discipline and the healthy growth of the local congregation. I hope readers will find the treatment of the subject both scholarly and sensitive to the needs of the contemporary church, and the resources offered both practical and friendly to those who would use them.

Lionel Moriah

Halifax, Nova Scotia

April 2011

Acknowledgments

Sincere appreciation is expressed to several individuals who have played significant roles in the production of this book. First and foremost, though, I am deeply grateful to God for the privilege and provision afforded me from the inception to the completion of this project. Beyond the provision of intellectual, mental, physical, as well as spiritual and material resources was the indispensable presence of several people without whom I could not have reached this stage.

My beloved wife, Jemell, has been a tremendous support and partner on each step of the journey. Her support has taken the form of the sacrifice of time together during the demanding periods of research and other activities necessary to the writing process. I am deeply indebted to her for allowing me the time and space, and for offering her insights while I struggled to make this a reader-friendly book.

The original inspiration for this book based on my thesis came from Dr. Robert Wilson, my Doctor of Ministry thesis supervisor, which makes this declaration of gratitude more than a decade overdue. I am grateful for his ongoing encouragement which kept the possibility of this project alive. My sincere gratitude also goes to Reverend Joseph Manchester, ministry mentor during my DMin. His diligence kept me focused on the goal of excellence.

My editor, Lorraine Street, carried the bulk of the potter’s task of taking the original manuscript and shaping it into the current form. This result comes at great sacrifice to her, and I am grateful for her efforts.

My ultimate hope is that we may all benefit from the fruits of this research in attaining a clearer vision for the work of God through the local church as well as in the wider kingdom. Indeed, to God belongs the credit and glory for whatever enlightenment and insights I have gained from ministry in local churches and have tried to bring to this resource. I hope it will be of use to them.

Introduction

A Parable of and for Our Times . . .

The pastor settled into her new charge with great enthusiasm and a lofty vision. The prospects and possibilities seemed boundless. All went well until the personal situation of a member of the congregation was brought to her attention. Clarke (as we shall call him) was involved in an adulterous relationship. The pastor believed that such a relationship was obviously, explicitly, and unequivocally condemned by Jesus. The situation was not new—the relationship had begun before she became pastor—but what she saw as a critical issue of moral failure had apparently not been addressed by her predecessor. Nor had it been acknowledged by the congregation, other than in its acceptance of Clarke’s voluntary resignation from a position of leadership. In the congregation’s records, the pastor found Clarke’s letter: It appeared to be an admission of guilt and an acknowledgment that his situation disqualified him from holding office in the church. The congregation’s Board of Deacons had responded to it, expressing the hope that Clarke would resolve the situation properly and return to active fellowship. Nothing else, however, had been done by the previous pastor or by any other church leader acting in an official capacity.

The new pastor hoped that, through her pastoral care efforts, Clarke might be encouraged to repent and be restored to the congregation. The matter was, however, not to be so easily resolved. Initially, Clarke responded positively to both pastoral care and professional counseling. He renewed his interest in the church and appeared to be attempting to reconcile with his wife. Things looked promising. He began attending worship and taking an interest in business meetings again. After a period of two years, however, it was discovered that he had not severed his adulterous relationship, and the situation came to a head when he nevertheless expressed interest in joining the choir, voting at business meetings, and taking communion, and when other members of the congregation supported his desire to do so.

The pastor met with him, encouraged him to make a clear statement of repentance before the congregation, to express his desire for God’s forgiveness and that of the congregation, and to end the relationship. He was also encouraged to join a Bible study group as an aid to spiritual growth, and to consider further professional counseling. Unfortunately, he chose instead to continue the relationship and once again to minimize his involvement with the congregation.

Some time later, Clarke became involved in a second adulterous relationship that resulted in the breakup of a family. The pastor once again tried to address the situation with him through pastoral care. She also discussed the situation with the congregation’s lay leaders. Some categorically rejected the biblical principle of Christian discipline—and its potential consequence of restoration to or exclusion from Church membership depending on the response of the one being disciplined—declaring it to be judgmental, out of step with the times, and potentially disruptive to the congregation. It also seemed clear that others would rather the conduct be ignored than addressed; indeed, some members made it plain that they would prefer the pastor’s resignation to Clarke’s removal from the fellowship, should it come to a choice between the two.

A number of individuals, however, did agree that the situation should be addressed in light of biblical principles and precedents. Eventually, the Board of Deacons decided that the matter should be brought to the congregation for discussion, and it was placed on the agenda of the upcoming quarterly business meeting. The discussion never took place, however, because Clarke submitted a letter beforehand, indicating that he was withdrawing from the fellowship of the church until his life was in order.

It appeared that Clarke, at some level, recognized that he did not know or understand the biblical teachings relevant to these matters, nor their formative and reformative implications, and he wrote that he wished someone had approached him much earlier with such spiritual counsel. Nonetheless, he rejected or ignored further attempts on the part of the pastor, and her efforts at Christian discipline in this matter prompted a vote of confidence about her leadership. Although the vote of the congregants affirmed her conduct, the entire situation had such damaging effects that she resigned not long afterward.

The Lesson of this Parable

The issue of discipline is not an easy one for most Christian congregations. Given the individualism that runs so deep in modern (and post-modern) Western culture, many people find it difficult to accept the notion that we, as individuals, are responsible to others in matters relating to our beliefs and, especially, our actions. Congregations, for their part, often do not want to sit in judgment of individuals or enforce standards among their members. But the evidence of Scripture and the precedents of Church history, some of which will be discussed in these pages, show that this ministry is important both for the glory of God and the credibility of the missional church. The parable related above illustrates some of the damage that can be done to relationships in the church when Christian discipline is ignored, neglected, mishandled, or rejected. In the discussion that follows, the writer intends to show that Christian discipline is a ministry with solid biblical and historical warrant and foundations, and that it is as relevant and important to the church today as it ever was.

Christian Discipline and Relationship

The ministry of biblical or Christian discipline (commonly called church discipline) is a matter of both prevention and formation and of correction and reformation, and it is best appreciated and understood within the context of relationship. Scripture has much to say about discipline, often in the context of the relationship of parents and children, but also about God disciplining his people on the basis of the covenant between them. Here, I believe, lies the foundation on which the church bases, and can build—or re-build—its understanding and practice of Christian discipline.

As will be outlined below, in the older biblical Testament we see that God intentionally initiated a relationship with a people, desiring to adopt them and bless them, and that God asked them, in return, for their love and obedience to his will. If and when the people disobeyed the commandments of God, they reaped the negative consequences of judgment, to be sure, but even these consequences were designed by God, in his boundless love for his people, to prompt and promote repentance among them and their eventual restoration to himself.

The New Testament likewise recounts instances whereby the early church sought to preserve its unique character and witness as the people of God by practicing the ministry of Christian discipline within its ranks. In every case, the context of such practice was the covenant or