Conflicts #5 Restorative Discipline
| If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent--not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (2Corinthians2:5-11) |
It would seem that Paul instituted discipline. One would imagine that this would have involved stripping the person of titles and responsibilities and possibly even excluding the person from the Lord's Supper or maybe even from the fellowship.
The purpose of this discipline would have been restorative rather than punitive. It would have been hoped that the individual would recognise what had been lost and would find his way back to the truth.
Paul is concerned that if the congregation acts punitively instead of restoratively, the man will be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow which could devolve into bitterness. And so Paul asks them to take another tough step....
To be sure: Discipline is a tough and courageous step. It's hard to demote someone or exclude them from communion or the fellowship - but this is done to help the person realise the seriousness of what is at stake. The next step is even harder: Forgive. To forgive the collective hurt and sense of betrayal that a community has experienced is not easy. The third difficult step is to reaffirm the love that they have for him - this means that they have to trust again. This also is not easy.
Paul leads by example - he subtly pressurises them: "If you forgive, I will forgive..." He has the most to forgive and he indicates that he will do this easily and so should they.
This process of restorative discipline is important. Satan infiltrates our fellowships in two ways: Firstly by making us too scared to discipline and so evil grows in our communities. And secondly by causing us to withhold forgiveness so that bitterness grows in our communities. Restorative discipline is the answer to both these dangers....
