Olivares, Erick Joshua R.

Pastor Fernando
Pastoral Ministry 1/5/2024

Monthly Reflection: Discipline

As mentioned in the handbook, “The church in a permissive society must recognize that
standards unenforced are standards abandoned.” Discipline is a part of the life of a Christian,
without discipline the church would be in a mess. But though discipline is important,
disciplinary actions are things that a pastor wishes not to do. Discipline can be hurtful,
especially if it is wrongly executed. But one thing that I won’t forget in our class on “Discipline”
is that when we discipline a person in our church is that it should be redemptive. The sole
purpose of disciplinary action is to win back the lost sheep of the flock, if this is not the main
objective of our discipline then we should not discipline someone at all. There are two extremes
in disciplining a person, one is the neglect on the part of some and the other is the harshness
and severity on the part of others. Discipline should be considered, not an act of punishment,
but an attempt to restore people to discipleship.
Adding to that, I remember in our class, one thing that Pastor Fernando said is that we
should not put someone under discipline if we haven’t provided any ways to help the person
under such circumstances. I remember that there was a time when I became a patrol when
someone is not doing the right thing. I like to point out the wrongs of others thinking that what
I’m doing is right and theirs is wrong. But looking back, I can say that I did not offer any help to
those people for them to right their wrongs.
This is very crucial for me. Just like what Jesus said to His disciples, “By this, all will know
that you are my disciples if you love one another” our church should be a community of love.
Anything we do without love should be corrected. This also implies to putting a person into
discipline. We should always remember that the main objective and reason for doing it is
because we love that person and we would like to redeem them back to the flock and to God.