I think most believers would agree that God disciplined the congregation of Israel in the Old Testament. But does God discipline entire congregations of believers? Is it possible that, right now, He is disciplining churches of every denomination over things that offend Him? And, if your church were experiencing such discipline, how would you recognize it?
Before we dive into the possibility of God disciplining churches, a brief recap of Divine discipline in the Old Testament is helpful.
Divine Discipline in the Old Testament
It turns out that God’s discipline of Israel was nothing if not consistent. The promised blessings and disciplinary curses of His people were laid out in Deuteronomy 28. Expressions of those disciplinary curses showed up in the forty-year wilderness wandering, the defeat at Ai, and the cycles of compromise and correction in Judges. God’s discipline continued throughout the period of the kings and prophets. His discipline was so severe that Israel and Judah ended up in exile!
I recently stumbled upon a verse that makes it plain, “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you” (Deut. 8:5). The question is: who is the “you” the Lord speaks of? It was not Moses or Joshua, as if He were disciplining an individual. The context speaks clearly of Israel as a congregation. It was a collective “you,” Israel as a whole.
Divine Discipline in the New Testament
If some of us think that God’s disciplinary ways with His people in the Old Testament differ from those of the New Testament, we are in for a shock. Jesus, writing to the church in Laodicea, says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (Rev. 3:19). Is the Lord writing to an individual about discipline, such as Hebrews 12 describes? No, just like Deuteronomy, the context is clearly collective. Jesus is writing to them as a singular congregation.
That congregation had issues of which they needed to repent. If they did not, they would face painful discipline. Five of the seven churches Jesus wrote to in Rev. 2-3 were in the same boat!
Shall we assume that modern-day congregations have no issues of which they need to repent? And if they do not do so shall we assume their Lord will turn a blind-eye? Has God’s grace eliminated the possibility of Divine discipline directed toward a church? Or perhaps a failure to recognize Jesus loving discipline of churches has led to their slow demise, not to mention the spiritual impotence of the North American Church at large.
The question remains: how would you know if your congregation is under Jesus loving discipline?
Signs of Divine Discipline
How can a pastor or church leader recognize if their congregation is currently under Jesus’ discipline?
The key resides in a phrase from Deuteronomy 8:5, “as a father disciplines his son.” I think we can agree that if a son or daughter crosses a line that demands parental correction and does not get the message in that correction, the chances are pretty good that further discipline awaits them.
Another thing we can agree on is that discipline is always painful.
If a congregation is under God’s discipline, it will experience incidents of corporate pain, pain that impacts the whole congregation just as it did Israel. And if that ministry has not “gotten the message,” we can assume that it is headed for further discipline.
That being the case, a congregation can look upon its history for repetitive painful crises as an indicator of Divine discipline. Cycles of repetitive corporate pain that increase in severity over time function as a key indicator of Divine discipline on a congregation, just as it did in Israel’s experience.
The expressions of collective disciplinary pain are familiar to most church leaders, though they don’t usually recognize them as such. Here are a few examples: People regularly visit the church but don’t stay. A church split leaves a church limping as if it had a leg amputated. Tightening financial resources strangle the ministry. A famine of fruitfulness causes leaders to wonder what’s wrong with their church. A ministry struggles with ongoing conflict. A local church experiences inexplicable illness and death among the congregation.
Finally, we must note that God’s discipline is always restorative and good. Speaking to Israel about God’s purpose behind their discipline, Moses wrote, “so that in the end it might go well with you” (Deut. 8:16).
In the end, Divine discipline of a congregation is a blessing. Its purpose is so that in the end it might go well with us (as a body). There is a mercy in God’s discipline, even when painful. Just as God longed for His people in the Old Testament to recognize His message in their pain and return to Him. He hopes for the same among many evangelical churches today. Are you willing to ponder the possibility that God has been disciplining your congregation?
May God grant you discernment to recognize God’s loving discipline and the courage to respond to the message in your congregation’s pain.
Mark Barnard serves with Blessing Point Ministries which works to restore the radiance of Christ’s Bride. You can learn more about congregational discipline by reading Body Aches – Experiencing and Responding to God’s Discipline of Your Church by Dr. Kenneth Quick (Available at https://blessingpoint.org/category/books/)