The Last Step of Church Discipline

I once had a conversation with a person who was involved in a serious fall into evil, who was involved in the process of church discipline in her life. And the process of church discipline follows several steps, the last of which is excommunication. And each step is designed to encourage the person to repent of their sin, and if they repent of their sin, they enjoy restoration of full fellowship within the church. I talked to this woman and said, “Do you realize that you’re now facing the last step? And that if you don’t change this course of action, you will, of course be excommunicated.” And she said, “Well, I don’t want to be excommunicated, but I don’t want to change my course of direction either.” And she knew very well that if she persisted in her behavior and was excommunicated she could go right down the street to the next church on the block and be welcomed into their fellowship. And I said to her: “Do you realize what excommunication is? The church is abandoning you. Turning you over to Satan, who will sift you like wheat. To remove the means of grace from your life that so protects you from godlessness. Think twice before you open yourself to this kind of abandonment of the means of grace.”