The Paradox of Gentle Discipline 

Fourth, address the sin “in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).  How you address sin that is found out—with humility and gentleness or without them—will often make or break the church. 

If discipline is not carried out in love and gentleness, it’s likely that other people will try all the harder to keep their sins under wraps, not to mention how unloving discipline can plant and water bitterness, backbiting, slander, and other such sins in the church.  These offenses, then, hinder the further cleansing of the church, thus prolonging the grieving of the Holy Spirit. 

Also, as the verse implies, lack of gentleness may put the “spiritual” person in the danger zone because God hates the pride and self-righteousness that are the seed-bed of this lack of gentleness.  Among other things, “gentleness” means following the procedure that Jesus set out for us, addressing the sin in private first.  It also means meeting the sin with clear teaching, with patience, without quarreling, and with hope that God “will grant them repentance . . . that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (II Timothy 2:24-26). 

It’s hard to deal with things privately in a public meeting, so the Christians shouldn’t be strangers to one another during the week.  Week-long community provides the opportunity for dealing with sin (among other things), but whether during the week or at the main meeting, sin can’t be pushed under the rug if we want God to dwell among us. 

In all, we must balance our compassion for the sinning person with our zeal for God’s house and His presence.  By balance, I don’t mean sometimes we let the sin slide and other times we don’t, but rather that we always address sin in the church thoroughly until it is out (by repentance, hopefully), while at the same time always holding love and hope in our hearts toward the sinning person. 

This is the severe grace that is only possible through a God who is fully, unrepentantly Just and fully, incredibly Love.  These two attributes don’t contradict in God, and they must not contradict in our churches if we want God to feel at home there. 

Coming soon...Chapter 2.20:  Learn to Shut Up and Defer to Others