Daily Devotional for Wednesday, June 18

The Action of Discipline

“To deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus,” 1 Corinthians 5:5.

I work with bus drivers every day. Not only is there the large bus and the busy traffic, sixty children are behind you, often misbehaving. Not only must you drive, watch traffic and watch sixty children behind you through a mirror, you still have to get them to their specific houses safely. Driving a busload of children is no easy task. It is made easier, though, with good discipline. When children are not trained and corrected, they can turn a difficult task into an impossible task. Without discipline on the bus, children are put in danger. Proper discipline is good for the student, good for the other passengers and good for the driver.

Discipline is not easy. It is especially difficult in church. We often speak of the church as a hospital for sick people. And it is in many ways. It is a place for healing and help when sin has beat you down. A doctor does not give poison to his patient just because he has not been watching his diet. Similarly, we think that discipline in a church is not helpful; the person is sick and needs help, not something else put on top of him. 

The Scriptures speak of properly applied discipline as a good and helpful thing. Our passage speaks of it as the correct medicine for the sick soul. Discipline is the only cure for the person who refuses to be helped with other methods. Looking at Scripture, we see that discipline is all of the following:

1.      It is our duty.

2.      It is an expression of godly love.

3.      It is for their benefit.

REFLECTION

Church discipline is tough, but it is for the benefit of the sinner, the church and the lost world 

that is watching.

Jason Rutherford