2 November 2007
Discipline All the Children for One’s Offense?
Posted by Michelle under: Mentoring; Obedience; Uncategorized; .
A certain discipline example was brought up today by an observant woman. I’ve thought about it before and have not come to a conclusion, although I do have some thoughts and leanings.
The question is whether it is ever appropriate to discipline multiple children for one child’s offense (like going on an outing, for example). I would say not usually, particularly for older children, but then I consider that we do see corporate discipline in the Bible, so perhaps it might be appropriate in some situations.
Incidentally, this question illustrates my observation about biblical mentor relationships. I would suggest that the best teaching relationship would offer important Scriptures to consider while evaluating this situation, rather than simply saying, “You should never do thus-and-so” or “That’s just not biblical.”
So here’s the question. What biblical principles and/or passages are important to consider when deciding how to discipline, when more than the offending child might be affected. (Let’s say, we’re going on a planned family outing to Sea World some distance away, and one child’s room isn’t clean, as was instructed the night before. We must leave within five minutes to reach the dolphin feeding and show on time.)
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You may also be interested in these posts:
- Love Not the World… For Children?
- Heartfelt Discipline Review– Part 1
- Heartfelt Discipline Review– Part 3
- Good Influences or Bad Influences?
- External Control, or Heart Change?

