Ayouth from a very troubled background came to our ministry and found Christ. He was thrilled by the significance and identity he experienced through involvement with Christians. But he did not give up his habit of lying and using obscene language. After warnings proved futile, our leaders decided to discipline him and they prohibited him from coming to our programmes. He felt as if his whole world had fallen apart! But this shock caused him to honestly seek the Lord in total commitment. Today he is a powerful servant of Christ.

The concept of disciplining erring Christians is unpopular in today's ″feel-good″ culture. But biblical wisdom tells us that discipline for dangerous sins, administered by God-fearing and just leaders, is necessary to protect the sanctity and purity of God's community. Discipline is also helpful to the person being disciplined.

Moses issues several principles to govern the activity of judges (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). They must not ″pervert justice or show partiality″ (v. 19). They are to ″follow justice and justice alone″ (v. 20), which includes the refusal to take bribes (v. 19). Note how ″justice″ is repeated for emphasis. It underscores how important it is for judges to be committed to justice. The law protects the nation by rewarding those who do good and punishing those who do evil (Romans 13:4). Righteous judges enable people to take the court seriously and trust its decrees. When custodians of the law act in ways that make people think the law will not protect them, it undermines a healthy society.

Among other things, judges had the responsibility of issuing punishment for severe sins. Idolatry, for instance, was strictly prohibited. Asherah poles, which represented the fertility goddess, and sacred stones, which represented the male sex organ, were not to be kept ″beside the altar″ of the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:21-22). Syncretism (the merging of different religious beliefs and practices) clashes with what the Bible teaches about the one true God. So hanging pictures of different gods next to each other violates Christian belief. Worship of other gods and celestial bodies was an offence so serious that it was punishable by the death penalty. To ensure that people were not the victims of false accusations, judges would conduct a thorough investigation, requiring the corroboration of at least two witnesses (17:2-7).

The death sentence served to ″purge the evil from among″ them (v. 7). While the death sentence, applied in a theocracy like Israel, would not be applied today, the New Testament confronts those guilty of serious sexual sin and blasphemy with similar severity. They were handed over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20); that is, expelled from the church, God's domain of protection and blessing.

But New Testament discipline gave opportunity for people to repent. Repentance is envisioned in Paul's two verses cited in the previous paragraph. The church will always welcome sinners from outside its borders, as Christ did when He was on earth. But if members of the church commit serious sins, they must be sent out until they repent and give up their rebellious acts. The end goal is ″so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns″ (1 Corinthians 5:5 NLT).