I was going to do a big long post about church discipline. In the first draft, there was a lot of hand-wringing and paragraphs about how even though all of us in the Church are sinners, we're still called to pursue purity. But I'm guessing that everybody who reads this has already had their fill of that topic, and at this point I'd probably only be preaching to the choir (in fact, some of said choir is in a far better position to be preaching to me about it). So, instead, I'll just sum up my thoughts and say that as unpleasant as it may be, we as Christians are called by God to discipline those amongst our number in the Church just as He disciplines us. We may not know everything about God, but He's told us quite a bit about Himself, and given us more than enough instruction as to how His Church must behave. Church discipline is something He specifically entrusted to us.

In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus says that we need to treat those within the Church who remain unrepentant about their sins as we would an unbeliever - with compassion and urges to repent. This, specifically, is the basis for the practice of excommunication. The directive to perform church discipline is made pretty clear and further defined in Hebrews 12:10-13; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:6; Galatians 6:1-2; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; James 5:20; 1 Timothy 1:19-20, 5:20; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Titus 1:13, 3:10; 1 Peter 1:16, 2:11-18, 3:8-16, 4:1-4, 13-19. The price of not performing church discipline is failure in every arena: a loss of purity (again, 1 Cor. 5:6-7); a loss of the power of the Holy Spirit (as seen in Joshua 7); a loss of purpose in acting as ambassadors to a fallen world (1 Pet. 1:14-16, 2:9-15); and a loss of church growth and maturity (Revelation 2:5, 3:16).

So there you go. It's not really an unknowable mystery of the Universe sort of thing.

Now, the fluff: I'll conclude this post by doing my own response to the "Me Me Meme" that's been working its way through the blogroll, since I've been tagged and all (thanks, Beth):

4 Things About MEME

4 Jobs I Have Had:
* Camp O-Ongo lackey (I remember the Hobart)
* Bookstore Cashier (both secular and Christian)
* Radiology Clerk
* Comics Penciler Intern

4 Movies Watched Over and Over:
* The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
* The Hunt for Red October
* The [Original] Star Wars Trilogy
* Princess Mononoke

4 Places I Have Lived:
* Valley Village, CA
* Running Springs, CA
* Des Moines, IA
* Minneapolis, MN

4 Shows I Watch:
* Battlestar Galactica
* L O S T
* Heroes
* Mystery Science Theater 3000 (yay, YouTube!)

4 Places I Have Been:
* Toronto, Ontario, Canada
* Spokane, WA
* Traverse City, MI
* Raleigh, NC

4 People Who E-mail Me:
* My Lovely Wife
* Michael Slusser
* Patrick Gleason
* Monkey McFinkelstein @ The Source Comics and Games (For some reason, I just can't bring myself to get off of their mailing list)

4 Favorite Things To Eat (which explain my current weight):
* Bacon Cheeseburger
* Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza
* BBQ Ribs
* Parfait!

4 Places I Would Rather Be:
* Financially stable
* In the San Bernardino Mountains
* In an apartment with a nice view and no stinky neighbor miasma outside the front door
* Roleplaying at a friend's house

4 Things I Look Forward To This Year:
* Getting my Bachelor's Degree in Comic Art
* Comics-related Employment
* Playing in a Campaign event again after a five year absence
* BSG Season 3 on DVD (can I see it in time for BSG Season 4?)

4 People To Tag:
* Well-Driven Nails
* A Not So Fresh Start
* American Kryptonite
* The Furrow (though he'll never do it)