Church Discipline Is Act of Love

By Jeff Robinson

Church discipline is a crucial aspect of a local church body’s health and obedience to Scripture and its goal is the restoration of a wandering believer, author, speaker and professor Don Whitney said June 26 at the 26th annual Southern Baptist Founders Conference.

Citing a recent article by the Wall Street Journal on church discipline that depicted it as merely a method seeking to kick people out of the church, Whitney said church discipline instead is a loving act and is demanded by Scripture in texts such as Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5.

“The goal is to restore a believer to righteousness,” Whitney said. “We want to bring them back, to heal the breach, to restore them in love.