Discipline vs. punishment

Disclaimer - I'm not an expert in discipline OR punishment. But I did stay at a...ok, that's dumb.

Anyway, this is a topic that has been brewing in my (and Sara's) mind for about 5 years and 274 days. Before that, I can honestly say I didn't give it too much thought. But it's amazing how being a parent can help you sympathize with God more and have a little more understanding about his relationship with us.

So anyway, I used to hate reading the history of Israel...how they would walk away from God, then he would smack them down, then they would come back for a while...then they would walk away again and the cycle would continue. It honestly made me wonder if the people were idiots (and sometimes I'd wonder if God knew what he was really doing). Really...they had to go through the same thing how many times? Seriously? But if you really sit down and check out the Bible, you'll see that in almost every case, God is acting in an attempt to bring his people back to where they should be instead of just schwacking them as a punishment.

Discipline has a lot of definitions, but the first in most lists includes the idea of training. And isn't that what we try to do with our kids? We try our hardest to teach them to make the right choices on their own. We try to build up character through our own example, encouragement, praise, and sometimes through allowing some of life's harder consequences. Punishment, on the other hand, is some sort of penalty for an offense. Punishment carries with it the idea that improvement is not the goal...there will be a consequence for actions regardless of the likelihood of real change. Honestly, I've been guilty of this at times with my own kids...feeling like they have to have a consequence for their actions even if it won't instill a change in character.

So how does this apply to our justice system? Why do we lock people away in prisons when most evidence suggests that they'll come out worse than they went in? Why do we believe in capital punishment when that (obviously) leaves no room for improvement for the condemned? Capital punishment is specifically mentioned in the Bible, and there's a couple ways it could be interpreted. First, it could be seen as a way to restore the nation of Israel into right standing before God. Another way (and in my view, the one more relevant to this discussion) is that discipline is necessary for the group...not just the individual. So maybe fear of consequences can be a part of discipline.

This hit home with some great friends of ours recently. Their son was a victim of shaken baby syndrome committed by a baby sitter (thankfully...he's recovered miraculously). When the court case was complete, most people involved believed that the verdict against this person was nowhere near what it should've been. Now our friends are being offered the opportunity to join an effort seeking to legislate more severe punishments for those who abuse children by shaking them. So would increasing the level of punishment really reduce the number of abuse victims? Would it help to satisfy the anger and pain of the families who have suffered?  Do our answers to those questions impact how we see our relationship with God, or our kids?

I don't have answers...just lots of questions. But I know that God loves all of us - the parent, the abuser, the child and the murderer. And I trust that he's disciplining each one of us every day.