Velvet Steel: The Beauty and Necessity of Biblical Church Discipline

I define church discipline this way: the continual application of the gospel which creates Godly, healthy relationships. As you will hopefully soon realize, church discipline is Christian discipleship. Church discipline is a healthy body of Christ being transformed by the power of the Scriptures and our love for one another. In this way, church discipline is, at the same time, both beautiful and necessary. It is beautiful because it results in living illustrations of the gospel and joyful relationships, but it is also necessary, because without it, like a garden that is left alone, our relationships will deteriorate over time. Church discipline requires tenderness and toughness. Church discipline is like “velvet steel”: it has both components of soft, beauty and tenderness, but also steel-like toughness and necessity.