It was a sin so bad, Paul said, that even the pagans had no name for it. And it had been committed by a church member! Discipline was certainly in order, discipline of the strictest kind. This person must be taught a lesson-actually removed from the church. This was a very harsh punishment, and everyone would know about it, and hopefully everyone would be warned.
That was in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 5). A relatively short time later, probably within a very few months, Paul wrote again. This time he told the Corinthians that they should be bringing the offender back into fellowship. What was the reason for this seemingly hasty action? "Now, however, you should forgive him and encourage him, in order to keep him from becoming so sad as to give up completely. And so I beg you to let him know that you really do love him." (2 Corinthians 2:7-8) Paul was concerned that the offender not be broken completely.
"Surely," I can hear someone saying, "this sinner needed to be broken." In fact, we often hear people speak of the need for brokenness before God (and even before people). I think I may understand what they are talking about when they use such words, but the Bible seems to take a different approach to breaking.
The Servant of the Lord described in (Isaiah 42) "will not break off a bent reed." When Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth, he read from another Isaiah passage, declaring that he had come to heal the brokenhearted. As a matter of fact, the Bible never uses terms for breaking in the sense of doing someone good spiritually.
"He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds." (Psalm 147:3) "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18)
God's way is not to break a person. God's way is death and resurrection. The world speaks of breaking a child's spirit, but the Bible speaks of renewing the spirit, of healing those who are broken.
"Lift up your tired hands, then, and strengthen your trembling knees! Keep walking on straight paths, so that the lame foot may not be disabled, but instead be healed. Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it. Guard against turning back from the grace of God. Let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison." (Hebrews 12:12- 15)