Go and Search for the One Straying

Leaving the ninety-nine to go after the one is Jesus' context for what we call "church discipline," the purpose of which is to restore the brother or sister who has begun to wander away in sin.

Jesus proves that discipline is loving, and that the process is not meant to publicly shame through a series of steps that involve the least amount of people necessary. Not until the final step of restoration is the church as whole involved, and only as a final resort to bring them back. However, if at every level there is no desire to listen, Jesus commands the church to use the keys it has been given to declare and treat that person as an unbeliever. For those who are true believers, however, His sheep will always ultimately hear the voice of their shepherd and be brought back to repentance and faith.