Rule of St. Benedict

As my recently retired Rector cleaned out his office, I procured a booklet of The Rule of St. Benedict in English. Something about Benedictine spirituality I like. The discipline and structure of it is very appealing to one like myself whose life resists such structure. It's funny how I crave and detest discipline at the same time. Here's an interesting little snippet: CHAPTER XXIII Of Excommunication for Faults If a brother is found stubborn or disobedient or proud or murmuring, or opposed to anything in the Holy Rule and a contemner of the commandments of his Superiors, let him be admonished by his Superiors once and again in secret, according to the command of our Lord (cf Mt 18:15-16). If he doth not amend let him be taken to task publicly before all. But if he doth not reform even then, and he understandeth what a penalty it is, let him be placed under excommunication; but if even then he remaineth obstinate let him undergo corporal punishment. The following chapters also explains about the duration of excommunication, care of the excommunicated and restoration. Imagine if that was applied in church. It seems to me that it is supposed to. But it appears there are very few churches who practice it and even fewer church members who might accept it. And this is true amongst evangelical groups who cling so tightly to a "high view of Scripture." This leads me to a different rant ... we need to be very careful in trumpeting our a high view of Scripture. Often we have a high view of the Scriptures we like. We have a high view until it applies to us and our sin, then suddenly we have a low view of our church and need a new one. Dr. Paul Livermore, who has been my professor, mentor & friend, once said, "You know those parts of the Bible you underline? The rest of it is the Bible too you know!" Back to the Rule: notice the short catalog of seemingly innocuous sins. If a brother is found stubborn or disobedient or proud or murmuring, or opposed to anything in the Holy Rule and a contemner of the commandments of his Superiors ... All too often we just look past these types of "sins" as just personality quirks and say, "Well, that's just the way s/he is. S/He doesn't mean any harm." I've actually been a part of a church like that. It's horrible. Of course this church didn't discipline one of their members who in a drunken rage put a hammer in his wife's head either but that's another story. They had other illnesses too. What might church look like if we lovingly disciplined members? Would we accept it? What do you think the media might say?