Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
Summary: Looking at this passage from the perspective of church discipline reveals both a need and a solution.
In Part I of this meditation, we looked at how God sees us as if we were made of glass. He can see into the very center of our being. He knows what is in the closets of our minds, even the things we have forgotten are exposed to his eyes. God knows us better than we know ourselves.
We also looked at the limits of human perception. I cannot know what is in your heart any more than you can know what is in mine. I can observe what you say and do, and I can sometimes see a hint of what you are thinking, but I cannot know you as God knows you.
In this meditation, Part II, we will look at how these two realities, God’s unlimited vision and the limits of what we can see, influence church discipline.
First of all, there are two kinds of churches. One is the “church invisible,” the Body of Christ. This is the church that Jesus sees, regardless of the theology we adhere to or the place where we worship.
The second kind of church is what we might call the “organizational church” or “local church.” This is the group you attend that you worship with. When we talk about church discipline, this is the arena we are talking about — the local, organizational church.
If you have someone in your congregation who turns away to ‘follow Satan,’ how does that affect the rest of the congregation? In biblical terms, I am assuming ‘following Satan’ is not limited to Satanic worship. It could be as innocuous as dividing one’s worship between Jesus and a false religion, as the Israelites did in the days of the kings (1 Kings 11:4).
People learn from watching each other, and when it comes to authority, noting what is allowed and what is condemned. If church leadership ‘allows’ behaviors that run contrary to biblical principles, what are people to think? Are those behaviors okay?
Church discipline doesn’t mean that everyone who strays is ‘handed over to Satan’ (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). In fact, God’s word stresses that discipline should be enforced gently.* Yet, it must be enforced. Not because we are able, by our own power, to save someone from hell, but because we want to protect the church from false teaching and ungodly behavior, and because those who wander need to be restored if they are to live a life that honors Jesus and not simply one that escapes “as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:15).
Application: Faithful living requires discipline, beginning with self-discipline.
Food for Thought: Compare a church without discipline to one that applies discipline. What do you imagine the difference would be?
*Galatians 6:1, 2 Timothy 2:25, Hebrews 5:2
Every church needs to practice discipline. The two errors tend to be going too far to say they made a righteous stand, but their goal was not love and restoration, but punishment – the other error is to do nothing at all. Neither of those are loving examples. Neither is looking to lovingly restore the person.
Discipline is hard in our culture as people tend to react negatively even to well meaning, loving attempts at restoration. Usually people just blame the church itself. And often people just leave and go down the road to another church. But the attempt should still be there.
Galatians 6: 1 : Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
James 5: 19 – 20: My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Matthew 18: 15 – 17: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Thank you, Rich!
I know that this is a sensitive topic, but you have handled the question exceptionally well.