Strategies in Church Discipline from 1 Corinthians: A Chinese Perspective

By Timothy KH Chong

This book seeks to recover the New Testament ideal of church discipline and to construct a holistic model for the Church in Asia. The Church has wrestled with the issue of discipline ever since her inception. Many of Pauls letters addressed the problems that had arisen in the communities that he had established. The thrust of church discipline in the New Testament was the formation of Christian character through the Word of God worked out in the process of discipleship through teaching, edification, admonition as well as banishing serious sin from the community. The ideal of church discipline in the New Testament is both Preventive Discipline and Punitive Discipline. As the Church became more institutionalized, there was a paradigm shift in the process of discipline. The New Testament ideal of discipline as a character formation was shifted to regulatory ordinances. This led to the development of a strict and regimented Christianity. Since then, church discipline had taken on a penitential and punitive direction. The book seeks to study Pauls management of the disciplinary problems in 1 Corinthians and then to construct a holistic model of church discipline for an Asian context.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512750492

Timothy KH Chong

Timothy Chong is the Anglican Dean of Indonesia and a clergy of the Diocese of Singapore. He supervises the Anglican Church in Indonesia, in planting churches, schools and community development projects. Timothy holds a Doctor of Theology degree in Biblical Studies from the Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary.

Book preview

Also by Timothy Chong

Paul’s Theology of Church Discipline in 1 Corinthians: Constructing a Holistic Model of Church Discipline for the Church in Singapore, ABGTS Monograph Series 1. Singapore: Word and Works, 2009.

STRATEGIES IN CHURCH

DISCIPLINE FROM 1 CORINTHIANS

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A Chinese Perspective

TIMOTHY KH CHONG

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Copyright © 2016 Timothy KH Chong.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2011 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All Greek words are transliterated in this book.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5050-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5051-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5049-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016911759

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/10/2016

CONTENTS

Foreword

Foreword

Preface

INTRODUCTION   A Brief Historical Survey of Church Discipline

CHAPTER 1   Roman Corinth, Paul, and His Letter

CHAPTER 2   Disciplinary Issues in 1 Corinthians

CHAPTER 3   Paul as Paradigm

CHAPTER 4   Paul as Father

CHAPTER 5   Paul as Disciplinarian

CHAPTER 6   Paul as Builder

CHAPTER 7   A Contextual Model of Church Discipline for the Chinese Church

CHAPTER 8   The Doctrine of Preventive Church Discipline and Punitive Church Discipline

Conclusion

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Notes

Dedication

To my wife, Magdalena, for her love, companionship, encouragement, and long-suffering.

FOREWORD

It is my great joy to write a foreword for a book by a member of my own clergy team. Rev. Dr Timothy Chong is presently the Dean of Indonesia, a vast mission field for Anglican witness and ministry entrusted to the Diocese of Singapore. Prior to that, the he was Vicar of two successive Parish churches in Singapore. His experience both in leading established churches as well as new and young churches suitably qualifies him to write this book on Church discipline with a sense of pastoral reality.

The book is the fruit of a vast and demanding enterprise. It scores well on careful and patient exegesis of biblical texts, insightful analysis and thoughtful application to the setting of the Asian context in Singapore. What is driving the book is his conviction that the Church of today needs desperately to recover the apostolic practice of locating Church discipline in the matrix of disciple-making and character formation. Timothy convincingly shows how with the institutionalization of the church and the force of the Western context, Church discipline has tended to take a legalistic and punitive tone. The paradigm for thinking about Church discipline has shifted from the formation of Christian character and community to one of regulatory ordinances and sanctions.

How are we to find our way back to the proper context and aims of Church discipline? We must work with the biblical texts. Timothy skillfully and painstakingly takes us through the situation in 1 Corinthians and gives us a clear exposition of Paul’s teaching in the context he was addressing. Then, he unpacks the Asian context in Singapore and shows how contextual

Theology must be done to apply the kernel of biblical teaching. It may be pointed out that Singapore is an excellent choice for a case application for while it has a Chinese majority, it has significant Western roots in its history because it was a British colony.

The fruit of the study, which I highly commend, is that it offers a sound contextual model for the application of Church discipline in today’s Church. By showing what that model means for the Church in Singapore, the author is inviting theologians and pastors to do the same for their respective churches and contexts.

Today’s Church is in great need of developing a theology that combines grace and discipline within the over-arching framework of making disciples of all nations. This book makes a significant contribution to meeting that need. I am proud of him and his valuable labor of love for the Church of Jesus Christ.

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. 2 Corinthians 13:8-10 (ESV)

The Rt. Rev. Rennis S Ponniah

Bishop of Singapore

The Anglican Diocese of Singapore

FOREWORD

The churches in Asia were established by Western missionaries. Inevitably, many of the Western practices have been adopted and perpetuated in our churches. As the Chinese church, if we are to build appropriate and authentic ecclesiologies for our churches, we need to deconstruct the Euro-American presuppositions that have been so ingrained in our church life.

Dr. Chong has taken an important step in accomplishing this task through his careful and thorough study of 1 Corinthians. He makes a comparison between the apostle Paul and the way he dealt with significant pastoral problems in the Corinthian congregation and the moral values of Confucianism, which shape and govern Chinese society.

He is not being syncretistic. Instead, he is applying the moral and character values of Confucianism in a way consistent with Paul and his strategy in dealing with a Christian congregation that still needed significant discipleship and formation. He sees Paul as the paradigmatic gentleman who models the virtues of the Christian faith. He is the paterfamilias, the one who is to be imitated, and who therefore has the authority to correct wrong behavior in the congregation. He is to be imitated.

Paul accomplished this through classical, rhetorical discourse that clearly compelled the Corinthians to correct their non-Christian behavior and embrace a lifestyle that was honoring and pleasing to God. Dr. Chong wrote,

Church discipline should be regarded firstly as spiritual formation of the Christian character or self-cultivation (as in Confucian terminology), according to the Word of God worked out in the process of discipleship through teaching, edification, admonition as well as removing evil from the community.

This book is not just for the Chinese church. From a North American context, I can see its value for us as well. Mainline Protestantism—and even mainline evangelical Christianity—has been far too accommodating over the years to a contemporary culture that progressively and constantly is moving away from biblical values. Christian leaders have compromised their authority by failing to challenge pastorally and lovingly the permissiveness that exists in our congregations.

Part of this is due to our belief in autonomous individuals free to make their own decisions based on their own consciences without the interference of an external moral code that appears to be randomly imposed by a religious group. As postmodernism continues grow in its influence, multiple truths are becoming the norm, and it seems that many Christians in the West are tacitly accepting this.

When I was an overseas missionary, I remember being strongly criticized for imposing my beliefs on another faith system. We can no longer presume that Christian values are regarded positively. This is especially true in the area of human sexuality, where those who uphold heterosexual monogamy as the biblical norm are branded as haters and as morally degenerate as the South Africans who supported apartheid. What Dr. Chong demonstrates is that consistent and appropriate biblical teaching that comes from exemplary Christian leaders is one way of irenically promoting church discipline in the Christian community and enabling it to reflect lifestyles that honor and glorify God.

One of the trends I have observed is that in our society, people are becoming more fragmented and polarized. Calm discourse seems to be a thing of the past. As much as people cry out for tolerance, there is growing intolerance of other perspectives and opinions. The dissolution of the family or the redefinition of what it means to be family is causing growing isolation and alienation. In any transition—and we are in the midst of significant social change—there are of course contradictory currents that make it difficult to isolate and identify exactly what is happening in order to draw accurate conclusions. However, I am seeing a growing desire for community and group identity. Something in our human nature gives us the desire to belong, and this is the opposite of Western individualism.

I believe the individualism promoted by the Enlightenment is contrary to the way God created us in His image. We desire community, communion, fellowship with one another. The Greek word for this in the New Testament is koinōnia. The Triune God has perfect koinōnia in the three Persons of the Trinity. By having been made in God’s image, we desire koinōnia with Him and with each other. Dr. Chong shows us the way in which we can grow and be nurtured in a community of faith as members of the body of Christ.

As we struggle with declining church membership in the West, we need to be attuned to the external voices that brand us hypocrites. We are perceived as judgmental. We talk about the need for salvation and Jesus, but there is less evidence of personal transformation. Too many churchgoers appear to put on their Christian hats for worship on Sunday but leave them off the rest of the week. Secular folk are not converting to the Christian faith because they are being reminded of the Sunday school faith of their childhood a generation ago. Many never went to Sunday school, and their only experience in Christian worship would have been for the most part through attending weddings and funerals. Or their view of the Christian faith is shaped by the media and popular culture.

People are converting to the Christian faith today because of the authentic witness of Christians with whom they have personal relationships. Their friends see them as holy people whose lives are enriched and enhanced by their Christian faith. They see a loving community that is welcoming, affirming, and united in its faith in spite of the diversity in it. They see a community that has standards of behavior but is restorative.

As Christians, we are to be disciples for life. We are to be learning continuously whether in a Western or a Chinese context. Timothy Chong has presented us not only with a strong argument as to why this needs to take place, but also how. His book is timely and necessary—and has universal application for all Christians.

The Rev. Canon John A. Macdonald, DMiss

Associate Professor of Mission and Evangelism

Director, The Stanway Institute for World Mission and Evangelism

Trinity School for Ministry

Ambridge, PA USA

PREFACE

The theme of church discipline became my research focus more than ten years ago when I was assigned to write a paper on the code of conduct for my diocese. My research went on to take on a wider scope because I reasoned that if there was to be a code of conduct we enforced, there must be other processes involved as well such as church discipline and restoration.

My research into church discipline resulted in a doctoral dissertation my seminary published. This book is a revision of it; I have added a few more chapters to complete the picture of Paul’s theology of church discipline in 1 Corinthians.

Not many books have been written on church discipline. It is difficult to administer church discipline much more in our time and age when our society has become more litigious, morally lax, and inclusive. Thirty years ago, Francis Schaeffer prophetically warned us, This new step of accommodation to the world … is rooted in two groups: those who are willing to accommodate to a lower view of Scripture, and those who no longer hold to the third mark of a true church, discipline.¹ True enough, we are living in an age in which the paradigm is tolerance and church discipline is no longer fashionable in the light of the new Christian antinomian teachings, which have been propagated by the so-called hyper-grace² teachers and had permeated so many of our churches.

I do not blame churches for disregarding church discipline as it is rigid and punitive; it has veered from the ideals of the New Testament. Also, the church in Asia hasn’t worked out its theological construct of church discipline because it received the West’s doctrine uncritically.

Many of the contemporary books on church discipline were written from a Western perspective. Most of these authors think Matthew 18:15–17 is the definitive text with a four-step progression. The rest of the New Testament texts are used to fit that four-step structure; sometimes, I fear those authors were just proofreading. Matthew 18:15–17 is not about church discipline but fractured relationships. There are no other books that use alternative texts or approaches. I was looking for something more exegetical and biblical, perhaps a more in-depth study that would explore the subject of church discipline.

Then I came across Margaret M. Mitchell’s Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation: An Exegetical Investigation of the Language and Composition of 1 Corinthians. Her book was fundamental in helping reshape my perspective of 1 Corinthians and my direction for church discipline. Along the way, I discovered the beauty of rhetorical criticism as an interpretative methodology, and I wrote this book with that approach.

From there, I developed my doctrine of preventive and punitive discipline. The Western approach to church discipline is punitive in nature while Paul’s theology of church discipline in 1 Corinthians is preventive as well as punitive.

I thank the Rt. Rev. John Chew and my fellow clergy of the Diocese of Singapore who started me on the topic many years ago, and the Rt. Rev. Rennis Ponniah, my current bishop, who gave me a sabbatical in 2016 to complete this revision and to embark on another area of research.

I thank Dr. Scott Sunquist, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, for his magnanimity in receiving me into the fellowship of the school for my sabbatical and appointing me as a visiting scholar in residence at short notice and for a different research topic.

I thank my wife and children for their love and patience in enduring my frequent absence due to my appointment as the dean of Indonesia, which requires me to be out of the country regularly, as well as my absence on this sabbatical leave.

Timothy KH Chong

Eastertide 2016

Pasadena, California

INTRODUCTION

A Brief Historical Survey of Church Discipline

Church Discipline in the Apostolic Church

Ever since the birth of the church, ecclesiastical discipline was a prominent concern.³ The apostle Paul wrote many letters to address problems in the communities he had established; he felt compelled to address them as an apostle appointed by Christ.⁴ Essentially, the thrust of church discipline in the apostolic church was for the formation of Christian character according to the Word of God worked out in the process of discipleship through teaching, edification, admonition, and removing evil from the community.

The fundamental motivation for church discipline in the apostolic period was the holiness of God.⁵ The apostles had with them the Old Testament from which they drew principles to teach Christians how to live in a way that honored the Lord. The apostles saw in the Law given to Israel the prominence of the holiness of God and the calling to be a people of God distinct from others in the world. They called the people of the New Covenant into a relationship with God that was similar to the call in the Old Testament, that is, to be holy unto the Lord. This Law impressed on Israel the holiness of God and urged the people to realize the necessity of leading holy lives. The Law, especially the book of Leviticus, was designed to instruct the covenant community in holy worship and holy living so that they might enjoy the presence and blessing of God.⁶ The Law was meant to transform these former slaves into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9–10; Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6).

In looking at the theme of holiness from the Law, especially Leviticus, there are two main things to consider. First is the concept of ethical holiness as separation from sin, and second is the concept of ritual holiness as separation from various defilements.⁷ God’s holiness involved both the ethical and the ritual; worship and conduct were to be integrated.⁸ This demand of holiness on the worship and conduct of the Israelites was their special identity as the elect and called of God marked by their uniqueness and separateness.⁹ They held fast to the ethical principles and lived in obedience to them; that was a demonstration to the surrounding nations and cultures of what it meant to be the image of God. The call to holiness in Leviticus involved regulations concerning the sanctity of blood (Lev. 17), the prohibition of incest (18:1–18) and other sexual perversions (Lev. 18:19–23), the keeping of the Decalogue (19:1–18) and related laws (Lev. 19:19–20:27), and proper behavior of the priests in private and public life (Lev. 21–22).¹⁰

God’s call to ethical holiness was further seen in the formula I am the LORD your God found over thirty times in the holiness code.¹¹ It was a reminder to the Israelites that the holiness code had its setting in the covenant at Mount Sinai and they were obligated to observe these laws because of the holy character of the God they worshipped.¹² This formula has three connotations to ancient Israel. First, it was a reminder of what the Lord had done for Israel and how He had chosen its people as His. Second, they were expected to imitate the Lord by being holy. Third, they were to obey His Law not merely as a duty but as a loving response to His redemption.¹³

This is the clear indication that the holiness code transcended mere ritual purity. The covenant made on Mount Sinai involved a life of obedience in which God’s holy character was to be reflected. The result of obedience was the experiencing of God’s blessings, in particular, enjoying a living, personal relationship with Him. The holiness code reminded the Israelites of their covenant with God and charted for them the path of obedience they were to take.

Holiness was expressed as living the covenant life in separation from the surrounding cultures. They were not to follow the practices of the Egyptians or the Canaanites. God’s holiness demanded that His people separate themselves ritually and ethically from their neighbors. They were to be holy as their God was holy. Just as the people of God in the Old Testament were a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6), so in the apostolic church, the new people of God were called a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (1 Pet. 2:9). Just as the call in Leviticus 11:44 for His people to be holy, for I am holy, so in the apostolic church, the call for the new people was, As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written: ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ (1 Pet. 1:15–16). The principle of church discipline in the apostolic church lies in the holiness of God, and the believers are to walk in the way of holiness.

Church Discipline in the Early Church

As the church gradually became more institutionalized and entered the postapostolic era, church discipline underwent a paradigm shift. The earlier apostolic ideal of church discipline as a formation of Christian character was shifted to regulatory ordinances that led to the development of a strict, regimented Christianity. The early church was concerned with the contamination that came from the world and sought to protect Christians from being corrupted by the values of the pagan system. Rules and regulations were formulated to keep the Christians on the right path.¹⁴

Church Discipline and God’s Holiness

As the church grew and established itself in Gentile cities of the Roman Empire, it had to wrestle with pagan societies. It was a question of assimilation, compromise, or separation. In this regard, the church saw its mission in terms of holiness and separation from the world. Its members took the doctrine of the holiness of God very seriously even to the point of martyrdom—ultimate separation from the world’s contamination of their souls. They reacted against sexual immorality, irresponsible uses of wealth, gladiatorial shows, prostitution, and worldliness. They devised disciplinary measures to keep themselves from being contaminated by the world.¹⁵

Tertullian exemplified this struggle in the early church. In De Spectaculis,¹⁶ he reminded the Christians about the laws of Church Discipline that forbad them to attend the theater and public shows because the entertainment offered by them was immoral and idolatrous; they belonged to the devil, whom Christians had renounced at baptism. In De Corona,¹⁷ Tertullian argued that a Christian could not be a soldier, citing the fact that the military was incompatible with Jesus’ teaching and the military lifestyle had ethical and religious complications. In On Idolatry,¹⁸ He listed employment Christians should not be involved in, including painting, sculpting, teaching in pagan schools, selling incense, and being pagan priests or public servants in addition to serving in the military. All these occupations had religious implications; Tertullian felt Christians should not be in occupations connected with pagan gods in any way. He also condemned all magic, divination, and astrology.

Church Discipline and the Episcopacy

The missionary work the apostles started soon made way for local, indigenous leadership. By the time of the postapostolic period, a full-fledged episcopacy had developed. Bishops were believed to have inherited the authority and responsibility of the apostles; they preached, baptized, celebrated the Eucharist, ordained the clergy, guarded orthodoxy, controlled church properties, and administered church discipline. Excommunication and reconciliation depended on the bishops’ decisions. The bishop’s chair (cathedra) evolved from a teaching chair to a governing chair. They were due obedience as the heads of their people.¹⁹

Church Discipline before Baptism

The early church took discipline before baptism very stringently. A person’s occupation was an important consideration when it came to baptism. A brothel keeper, prostitute, paid homosexual, pagan priest, temple guardian, painter, sculptor, astrologer, diviner, magician, amulet maker, actor, and anyone involved in the gladiatorial shows was rejected; those involved in these occupations had to give up their professions before they were allowed to be baptized.

The baptism candidates were to be admitted into the order of catechumenate first; that lasted between two to three years. Catechumens were instructed in the church; they were allowed to stay for the first part of the Eucharist only. After listening to the readings from Scripture and to the sermon, they were sent away with a special prayer and blessing.

When the time came for their final instruction, their lives were again examined. Baptism was conducted at the Easter service, and catechumens had to register for baptism before Lent. A catechumen who asked for baptism became a compentente.²⁰ The candidates took a short course in the creed and the mysteries of the sacraments; they also fasted and performed penitential exercises including exorcism by the bishop. The baptism service was an impressive service with immersion in the baptistery, anointing with holy oil, and the imposition of the bishop’s hand for the reception of the Holy Spirit.²¹

Church Discipline and Sins Committed after Baptism

In the early church, the Christian life was protected by a severe system of discipline. For a time, the church held that there were some sins too grave for any ecclesiastical pardon after baptism; the offender remained excommunicated. Pardon for a sin that brought excommunication could be granted only once. In his commentary on Leviticus, Origen noted, Among us there is but one forgiveness of sin, which is granted at the outset in baptism. After this there is no pity for the sinner, nor is any forgiveness granted. It is but fitting that the Christian for whom Christ died should be under sterner discipline.²²

There was a temptation to postpone baptism to reserve the opportunity for full pardon and diminish the risk of excommunication through grave postbaptismal sin. The great Cappadocian fathers brought up in Christian families demonstrated the reality and the seriousness of the implication of postbaptismal sins. Basil was baptized at age twenty-six, Gregory Nazianzus at twenty-eight, and Chrysostom at twenty-five. Ambrose was baptized only when he was chosen bishop of Milan, as was Nectarius when elected bishop of Constantinople. Augustine was baptized at age thirty-three.

By the end of the second century, a system of church discipline was in force. First, ecclesiastical discipline was exercised on a diocesan basis administered by the bishop, not by the presbyters, though he consulted them. The bishop determined the gravity of the sin and the appropriate punishment. Second, ecclesiastical discipline was public; sin was confessed in the presence of the congregation. The sinner was publicly reproved, suspended from Holy Communion, and entered the order of the penitents. The penitent had to wear outward signs such as sackcloth and ashes and had to do works of satisfaction. Weeping at the door of the church and asking the elders for readmission were considered evidence of genuine repentance.²³ Third, ecclesiastical restoration was public. The penitent was publicly restored to Holy Communion when the period was over and the works of satisfaction done.

However, restored Christians could not resume ordinary life in the world immediately; they had to live a monastic life. Public discipline for grave sin was available only once. It was paenitentia secunda.²⁴ In précis, the first penitence in baptism secured remission of all sin. Thereafter, grave sins were punished by excommunication.

This doctrine of the one chance of forgiveness for grave postbaptismal sins became the controlling principle in church discipline for centuries. As time went on, the severe side of discipline showed itself in the exclusion of sinners from full reconciliation and communion for very long periods and for life in an attempt to keep the rule of one public penance and pardon only. However, the ecumenical Council of Nicaea in AD 325 decided that all penitents should be reconciled at the moment of death.

There was also the issue of apostasy. As persecution against the Christians increased, there was a question of how to deal with those who had denied the faith under persecution but genuinely repented for their disavowal afterward. The early church fathers debated this issue among the fellowship of believers. Some of these debates caused schisms. The Novationists, who took up the position that apostasy could never be pardoned, formed a separatist church of the pure. The Donatists broke off from the church in Africa on the grounds that it had compromised itself by communion with apostates and thereby ceased to be the true church.

Early church