Dealing With Sin in the Church - Matthew 18:15-20
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Reflection: In the parable of the lost sheep, Matthew encouraged the church to leave the ninety nine and find the one who was lost. In this passage there is a different subject, how to deal with grievances and offenses within the church body. This could happen in one of two ways. First, a brother or sister may offend another or cause them harm and damage their reputation. Second, a church member's behavior may be so scandalous as the be an offense to all the members due to its public nature. Note, we are all sinners so this isn't unduly calling out any one person. As you will see the intention of this passage on discipline is to restore a wayward disciple of Christ to the fellowship of believers.
Indeed as Jesus spells out the steps of restoration, in every step most care is given to preserving the dignity and reputation of the person at fault, while at the same time protecting the fellowship and unity of the Church. So you have the dignity of the individual who Jesus loves and died for, and also the Church who Jesus loved and died for. The first step is to point out privately to the person what they have done wrong in hopes that they will see the error of their ways and repent. Note this step happens before going and telling others about it, to preserve the person's reputation and also show the person your love for them. Then, if the person doesn't listen, the idea is to bring a few more into the process. Notice it is not a lynch mob. The idea is maybe a few more who are independent of the situation will help the person to see how they are wrong, again preserving the dignity of the person in error. Finally, if the person persists in denial,they are brought to the Church, which generally means those in charge with ruling the church. In our church it is the church council. In others it is the elder board, or some other committee charged with ruling in disciplinary matters. Again the focus on being fair to the individual in hopes they can be restored to good standing. If this doesn't work they are disassociated with the fellowship.
One might say where is the forgiveness in that? But as we see in the process there was plenty of opportunity for the person to receive God's grace and be restored, but they have spurned the church speaking the truth in love if they don't repent of their behavior. Now the most loving thing to do would be to set a boundary with this person, still with the hope that they would one day repent and return to the fellowship. So you can see this is quite a fair process with the goal all along that the person would be reconciled first to God and also the community and/or the person they have offended.
I believe the Church would be well served with the biblical model of speaking the truth in love and the communal process for restoring wayward believers to authentic fellowship. The world will know we are Christians by our love and by how we speak the truth in love to others.
Jesus thank you for establishing your church, where we hear the gospel, receive the sacraments, and participate in community that reflects the love you have in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We know you are in this when we obey the instructions you have given us today. Amen.
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Reflection: In the parable of the lost sheep, Matthew encouraged the church to leave the ninety nine and find the one who was lost. In this passage there is a different subject, how to deal with grievances and offenses within the church body. This could happen in one of two ways. First, a brother or sister may offend another or cause them harm and damage their reputation. Second, a church member's behavior may be so scandalous as the be an offense to all the members due to its public nature. Note, we are all sinners so this isn't unduly calling out any one person. As you will see the intention of this passage on discipline is to restore a wayward disciple of Christ to the fellowship of believers.
Indeed as Jesus spells out the steps of restoration, in every step most care is given to preserving the dignity and reputation of the person at fault, while at the same time protecting the fellowship and unity of the Church. So you have the dignity of the individual who Jesus loves and died for, and also the Church who Jesus loved and died for. The first step is to point out privately to the person what they have done wrong in hopes that they will see the error of their ways and repent. Note this step happens before going and telling others about it, to preserve the person's reputation and also show the person your love for them. Then, if the person doesn't listen, the idea is to bring a few more into the process. Notice it is not a lynch mob. The idea is maybe a few more who are independent of the situation will help the person to see how they are wrong, again preserving the dignity of the person in error. Finally, if the person persists in denial,they are brought to the Church, which generally means those in charge with ruling the church. In our church it is the church council. In others it is the elder board, or some other committee charged with ruling in disciplinary matters. Again the focus on being fair to the individual in hopes they can be restored to good standing. If this doesn't work they are disassociated with the fellowship.
One might say where is the forgiveness in that? But as we see in the process there was plenty of opportunity for the person to receive God's grace and be restored, but they have spurned the church speaking the truth in love if they don't repent of their behavior. Now the most loving thing to do would be to set a boundary with this person, still with the hope that they would one day repent and return to the fellowship. So you can see this is quite a fair process with the goal all along that the person would be reconciled first to God and also the community and/or the person they have offended.
I believe the Church would be well served with the biblical model of speaking the truth in love and the communal process for restoring wayward believers to authentic fellowship. The world will know we are Christians by our love and by how we speak the truth in love to others.
Jesus thank you for establishing your church, where we hear the gospel, receive the sacraments, and participate in community that reflects the love you have in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We know you are in this when we obey the instructions you have given us today. Amen.
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