Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus (9Marks Building Healthy Churches Series)

by Jonathan Leeman

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2012

Overview

Church discipline is essential to building a healthy church. Yet, how does a church practice discipline? How should church leaders handle the endless variety of circumstances and sins for which no scriptural case study exists? Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus is a contemporary and concise how-to guide that provides a theological framework for understanding and implementing disciplinary measures in the local church. Jonathan Leeman, author and elder, also provides several examples of real situations and responses.

Key Features

• Provides a theological framework for understanding church discipline
• Includes several examples of real life situations and responses
• Offers readers a concise how-to guide for implementing discipline in the church

Contents

• The Biblical Basics of Discipline
• A Gospel Framework for Understanding Discipline
• When Is Discipline Necessary?
• How Does a Church Practice Discipline?
• How Does Restoration Work?
• The Adulterer
• The Addict
• The “Hits the News” Lawbreaker
• The Bruised Reed
• The Nonattending Member
• The Faithfully-Attending and Divisive Nonmember
• The Preemptive Resigner
• The Newly-Decided Unbeliever
• The Family Member
• Before You Discipline, Teach
• Before You Discipline, Organize

Top Highlights

“In more specific and formal terms, church discipline is the act of removing an individual from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Table. It’s not an act of forbidding an individual from attending the church’s public gatherings. It is the church’s public statement that it can no longer affirm the person’s profession of faith by calling him or her a Christian. It’s a refusal to give a person the Lord’s Supper. It’s excommunicating, or ex-communion-ing, the person.” (Pages 27–28)

“Fifth, it aims to present a good witness for Jesus.” (Page 33)

“It’s driven by the single question of whether a church can continue to publicly affirm a person’s profession of faith as credible.” (Page 49)

“Church discipline, fundamentally, is about making sure that Jesus’s representatives on earth represent Jesus and not someone else.” (Page 24)

“When we view church discipline through this theological grid, we gain a fuller understanding. It’s not just about correcting sin or blowing whistles. It’s about correcting sin for the purposes of ensuring that church members are indeed representing Jesus rightly. It’s about calling them to be what they claim to be.” (Pages 44–45)

Endorsements

Leeman airs the dirty laundry of our lives and talks about how to clean it up. He ventures into the tough area of pastoral application, which is sure to rouse good discussions, but again and again I found myself convinced. You will not fail to be helped by this book. Brief and biblical, wise and practical—this is the book on church discipline we’ve been looking for.

—Mark Dever, president, 9Marks

Far too few biblically grounded, pastorally sensitive books on church discipline remain in print today. I know of none that is as exegetically accurate, practically relevant, and filled with real-life case studies of how churches should deal with a wide variety of common situations. On top of all this, Leeman is helpfully succinct and remarkably clear. Highly recommended!

—Craig L. Blomberg, distinguished professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary

One of the most neglected activities in the church today is the ministry of loving, courageous, and redemptive church discipline. This book provides a clear vision and practical guidelines for this vital aspect of life together in the body of Christ. I have seen many people freed from entangling sin by churches that lived out these principles, and I pray that more and more churches will recommit themselves to this restorative ministry.

—Ken Sande, president, Peacemaker Ministries

Product Details

• Title: Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus
• Author: Jonathan Leeman
• Series: 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches
• Publisher: Crossway
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 144
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Church discipline; Church discipline › Case studies
• ISBNs: 9781433532337, 1433532336
• Resource ID: LLS:CHRCHDSCPLN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-19T04:01:43Z

About Jonathan Leeman

Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.