Thabiti,

Thank you for the helpful point. I don't mean to suggest that a pastor must do step 1, then step 2, then step 3, and so forth. I'm simply trying to enunciate the broad principle that church discipline only makes sense within the context of a right understanding of the gospel and conversion. How a pastor or elders go about applying that principle will differ--to some measure--from case to case.

I suspect there could be occasions of egregious 1 Cor. 5 type sin that an elder may feel he must act upon, knowing that he will use the opportunity to lead the church through discipline in order to clarify the congregation's understanding of the gospel and conversion. Having said that, he will have a much harder go at it if the church doesn't already understand these things in the first place.

9Marks speaks to a number of pastors who want our advice on how to lead their churches into practicing church discipline. Yet as they describe their churches to us, it sometimes becomes clear that their congregations don't understand basic things like repentance. If your (plural) church doesn't understand repentance, you can expect church discipline will be a reeeal tough sell.

I don't think I'm responding precisely to your question about "how to strike the balance," Thabiti. Maybe the other brothers will jump in. Striking a balance is tough. What do you think?