Read Acts 5:7-11
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
John Stott argues that there are at least three important lessons we can learn from the account of Ananias and Sapphira:
1. The seriousness of their sin: which Peter describes as being against the Holy Spirit, not just the church. Further, their deceit, if left unchallenged, would have hugely damaged the open community the early church had so far maintained.
2. The importance of living a transparent life before God, without deceit and deviousness, so that we can have good relationships both with God and one another.
3. The necessity of church discipline.
On this latter point he notes that:
The church has tended to oscillate in this area between extreme severity (disciplining members for the most trivial offences) and extreme laxity (exercising no discipline at all, even for serious offences). It is a good general rule that secret sins should be dealt with secretly, private sins privately, and only public sins publicly. Churches are also wise if they follow the successive stages taught by Jesus. (Matt. 18:15ff.)[1]
- What do you think of John Stott’s comments on church discipline? Do you think church discipline is necessary? Do you think contemporary churches are more likely to veer towards one extremity than the other? If so, which one and why?
- Have you witnessed or experienced any good examples of church discipline? What was the outcome of this? Have you experienced bad examples? What was the outcome?
- Have your friends ever confronted you about attitudes or behaviours they think you should change? How did this feel? Was it helpful or unhelpful?
- How do you feel when you have friends you feel you need to confront about something? Do you think you are more inclined to say something when you shouldn’t or not say something when you should?
If you have a
Within my MA dissertation I (very briefly) addressed the issue of church discipline citing those who argue that a centre-set model for church is better suited in this regard than a more bounded-set model (the latter, they would argue, is the form many more-traditional churches take). The actual paragraph relating to church discipline is on page 42 but you’ll probably need to read the whole section in order for it to make any sense. The section is entitled: “We must welcome people as they are.”
- Do you agree with Halter that a centre-set model of church provides a better forum for effective church discipline than a bounded-set model? Why?
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