by Don Boys, Ph. D.
All major church denominations teach church discipline when members go astray or, more correctly, live ungodly lives. Roman Catholics have always taught that concept but have been very reluctant to practice it as seen by their permitting mass killers such as Hitler to die in the church as well as major South American dictators and Mafia dons.
Baptists aren’t much better, especially large churches. After all, they don’t want to make waves, embarrass the innocent family members, destroy the ministry, disrupt the work, and other excuses for disobeying clear scriptural directives.
Frankly, the issues have been the same down through the ages. It has been common for members to sin then refuse to confess and forsake their sins and church leaders have used the same lame excuses listed above. However, there have been times when courageous leaders demanded church discipline, sometimes going to extremes as a case during the Middle Ages shows.
It seems a drunken baron stole an expensive chalice from a parish church, and was seen riding away with it. The following Sunday, the bishop draped the church in black and rang the bells as they did for major funerals. The congregation gathered and the bishop and the area priests who surrounded him, all held a lit candle. To a hushed crowd the bishop stood at the altar and called out the name of the thief and said, “Let him be cursed in the city and cursed in the field; cursed in his granary, his harvest, and his children; as Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up by the gaming earth, so may hell swallow him. And even as today we quench these torches in our hands, so may the light of his life be quenched for all eternity, unless he do repent!”
Each priest then threw his candle to the floor and stamped out the light. The thief was now an outlaw, worse than a leper or Jew! The thieving baron heard about his judgment and it brought him to a place of repentance!
His first step was to give his entire fortune to the bishop! Then he appeared at the altar barefoot and lay prostrate praying for 24 hours. The next step was for him to kneel while 60 monks and priests beat him with clubs! (Is this where we get the idea of “beating the devil” out of a person?) Every time a blow would fall, the victim yelled, “Just are thy judgments, O Lord!” (Of course, those were not the Lord’s judgments!)