Enforcing Discipline
ENFORCING DISCIPLINE
2 THESSALONIANS 3:14-16
Paul warns against tactlessness or unnecessary harshness in applying discipline: the offender is not to be treated as an enemy but is to be warned as a brother or sister.
Paul’s final provision for dealing with the idle implies a public reading of his letter (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:27). Once the letter has been publicized, no excuse remained for an unwillingness to comply with its instructions. If tactful appeal failed to result in obedience, and the apostle’s strong injunctions were disregarded, social pressure must be brought to bear on the obstinate individual.
Such a person can no longer be regarded as a person in good standing in the church. They are to be “noted,” which may mean that they are to be publicly named in a meeting of the church. Close fellowship is to be withdrawn from the offender in order to drive them to their senses. No action less radical could hope to penetrate a heart hardened by the persistent refusal to put into practice the apostolic teaching, delivered first orally at Thessalonica (3:10), and then in written form in the two letters to the church. Discipline is imposed to shame the person into thoughtful reflection and repentance in order that they may be brought back into the fellowship of the obedient.
Basic to Paul’s approach in the discipline of the idle is the assumption that the social relationships of individual Christians are a matter of concern for the whole congregation. Society judges the church by the public actions of those who profess to belong to the church. The man who becomes a Christian, therefore, is responsible to God and to his brothers in Christ. If he breaks faith and brings dishonor to the name of Christ, it becomes necessary for all in the fellowship to exercise moral courage and deal with his offense. However, the heart of Christian discipline is love. This moves the apostle to warn against tactlessness or unnecessary harshness in applying discipline: the offender is not to be regarded as an enemy who must be purged, but is to be warned as one would warn his own brother of imminent danger (3:15).
The purpose of discipline is to restore sound life to the congregation. Paul recognizes, however, that only “the Lord of peace” can mediate that quality of dynamic relationship and understanding in the church that will assure a climate of peace in which the tensions of the fellowship may be resolved (3:16). The peace about which the apostle writes is a reality which asserts itself over against the threat of conflict and misunderstanding. Paul is himself a mediator of this peace when he adds to the traditional greeting, “The Lord be with you,” the significant word “all.” Within the “all” are included the troublesome idle as well as the pillars of the congregation. The presence of the Lord with “all” will guarantee both the administration of the quality of discipline demanded and the restoration of the disciplined to the fellowship of the obedient.