For the Holiness of the Church

We have talked extensively about membership and what we mean when we use that term. I don’t want you to be confused. Every Christian born again by the Spirit of God is part of the church in the global sense. But God also calls us to participate in the church locally. Because we can’t occupy multiple spaces at a time, we can’t actually live in community with everybody in every church.

So we have a church, which has a building, which is an embassy or an outpost for the kingdom of God on earth. We use this building as a place in which Christians can gather and enjoy fellowship, worship, receive mutual encouragement and accountability, and support. Part of our job is to test the spirits and certify passports. If someone claims they are a follower of Jesus it is prudent of us to test their confession and ensure which Jesus they are following.

But then there is the other side of this issue we don’t like to talk about. What happens when people who claim to follow Christ do not represent him in the church or in the community? It can be an uncomfortable thing to address, but it is also uncomfortable because it has been misunderstood and abused. Church discipline is the process by which we seek to address sins in the church so that we might call people up more than we call people out.

God calls his children to be holy for he is holy. He did save us to leave us as we are. He saved us to radically transform us into the likeness of Christ. So church discipline is not about being the sin police. It is about the holiness of the church. I don’t care a bit about my reputation. I care a whole lot about Christ’s reputation. Our job, our reason we exist, is to represent Christ and his kingdom to the rest of the world.

Because the holiness of the church is vital to its mission of representing the kingdom of Christ, it must exercise restorative church discipline.

So how should it be done? Jesus outlines it for us in Matthew 18:15-20.

Matthew 18:15–20 NASB95

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

So let’s break this down and understand what it looks like to handle issues in the church, and step one is not what you think it is.

Step 1: You must care about restoration & reconciliation.

Context is everything when studying scripture. In conversations surrounding church membership and discipline, it is common to isolate these five verses and use them as a systematic process for addressing sins in the church. That’s not entirely wrong, but this passage does not sit in isolation. Notice that the first verse has this little 15 in front of it. That means fourteen other verses come before it that add context to the one paragraph we are reading.

Matthew chapter 18 starts with a discussion among the disciples about who the greatest would be in the kingdom. They were looking to positions of power or prestige for themselves, but using a child, Jesus showed them that humility of spirit is what makes one great. Then he talks about dealing with one’s own sin:

Matthew 18:7–9 NASB95

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

We should care first about our own sinfulness and already be in the habit of addressing our own sins before we seek to call out and address the sins of others. We don’t have to be perfect, but we can’t be ignoring or excusing our own sins but feel we can call them out in others.

Next, in the verses preceding our text for the day, Jesus talks about a man who had 100 sheep, but one went astray. It left the herd. The man left the 99 and went after the one. We often see this as a demonstration of Jesus leaving the 99 for the one, but what if I told you that it also demonstrates the heart we should have for our brothers and sisters? Step one is we have to have a genuine concern for those who fall away that we pursue them while everyone else is stable. Only then can we do anything about what Jesus teaches in verses 15-20. Church discipline only works if there is first genuine concern and the goal is reconciliation and restoration. The lost sheep was brought back into the fold and everyone rejoiced. Church discipline must come from a heart of concern with a goal of restoration and reconciliation.

Step 2: Handle personal sins personally.

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private! I cannot stress this point enough. Personal sins need to be handled personally. I cannot stress this enough. Often what happens is we skip this step and jump to the next one or even step four. But often what happens is that someone will sin. Someone else will be offended at that sin. Maybe it happened directly to them or perhaps it was observed behavior. The one who is offended won’t go to the offender, but to someone else and talk about the offense. The problem is this third person has nothing to do with the situation.

This has not happened much here, but in previous churches, people always wanted to come to me and tell me about the skeletons in other people’s closets. “This person is doing this. That person is doing that.” I would often sit and think to myself, “If I start digging, how long would it take before I found skeletons in this person’s closet?” Instead, I asked one question. Have you spoken to this person about what you are telling me? Most often the answer was no. Very seldom had anyone brought something to my attention without attempting to address it themselves. So then the follow-up question would be, “Are you here because you need help in approaching this person or something else?” It was often so I would go and do something about it instead of them going and addressing it. Except it doesn’t work that way.

If someone commits a sin and it offends you, then you must have the courage to address them privately.

James 5:19–20 NASB95

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Addressing sins in our brothers and sisters is a scary task, but its benefits can’t be understated. By mustering up the courage to address the sinfulness in others, we save them from a worse fate.

What happens if it doesn’t go well?

Step 3: Seek help from others.

Only after you have made an honest attempt at addressing the sin in a fellow brother or sister can you include the help of others. But who should go? The short answer is those who have influence with the one who committed the sin. When it comes time to address some things going on in me, it often comes best from those who are already close to me rather than people I may not be so close to.

There are always people of influence in your life. These are the people who get a say in your life. This could be a mentor, a parent, a relative, a close friend. In the church, these relationships are typically formed in small group contexts like Sunday school classes or Bible studies. These are the people we should turn to first. The people who know the offender best are the best people to sit down with someone and address a known issue.

Jesus says that every charge should be established on the evidence of two or three witnesses. This was embedded into Jewish law. Charges could not be brought against a person if there was only one witness. Deuteronomy 19:15 says,

Deuteronomy 19:15 NASB95

“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.

Here, Jesus is holding that same standard for discipline in the church. The importance of this is specifically relevant to the next step.

Step 4: Involve the leadership.

If someone has sinned, and you made an honest attempt at addressing the issue with the other person, and they flatly refused to acknowledge their sin is such, you find two or three people who have a measure of influence over that person with you the next time you go. If the one who sinned is still unrepentant, it is time to involve the leadership. Only at this point should you pick up the phone or come by the office and see me. Believe me, I don’t want to skirt responsibility. I do want to do things the way Christ wants them done.

This process should not be something anyone enjoys doing. But it is necessary. When someone breaks the law, there should be consequences. Eventually, someone will stand before a judge. By the time a situation gets to me, I will have expected that one person went to the offender and attempted to reconcile and restore. Then I will have expected that person to have taken two to three people to address it. Then I am going to speak with all parties involved, then all of us are going to sit and talk with the person one last time.

If someone is still unrepentant, then it is time to take the last step...

Step 5: Follow through with discipline.

If we follow the whole process, but do not take the last step, there is no value in going through the process. I am learning a lot raising children. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that if I am going to lay out disciplinary measures, I had better be ready to back them up with action. I’ve learned to give my daughter grace, but I have forced myself to be firm in holding to what I laid out for her. If she flatly refuses to do what I have asked, she forfeits rewards for good behavior.

When it comes to church discipline, Jesus says to treat the unrepentant church member as a Gentile or tax collector. In Jewish society at the time, these were the two most hated people. Jesus loved them. He loved a tax collector enough to make him a disciple, and he loved Gentiles enough to heal them. Jews in that time would not associate with them. So there comes a time where disassociation is the next appropriate step. An example of that is given in 1 Corinthians 5. The entire chapter addresses a matter pertaining to one of the church members sleeping with his step-mother. Verse 2 calls them to remove him from the fellowship. Verse 5 calls them to deliver the man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Verse 11 speaks to not associating with someone who calls themselves a brother but practices immoral behavior. The key there is conviction. We all sin, but some sin without conviction. That is dangerous to the church. There are times when it is appropriate to remove people from the fellowship for the health of the fellowship.

1 Corinthians 5:6–7 NASB95

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

When you add yeast to bread, it will affect the whole loaf. It spreads and causes the whole bread to rise. Sin left unaddressed will affect the whole church eventually. We are called to be holy as God is holy. We are to be set apart, an outpost of the kingdom of God in a foreign land. If we look just like the rest of the world, we fail to represent Christ and his kingdom. It is hard to walk through church discipline, but if we are going to represent Christ, we must. But we must begin with restoration and reconciliation in mind. We should hope that we have developed relationships deep enough that we invite someone to speak into our lives by looking out for us.

Today, you have the opportunity to respond to the Lord. Maybe you have been keeping something hidden. Maybe he is beginning to bring that to the surface of your mind. You have been wrestling with that sin long enough. Maybe no one knows what it is. Do you have anyone in the church you trust enough to ask for help? Even if helping is just praying?

If there are sin issues in the church that need to be addressed for the holiness of the church, may we have the courage to take action and walk through church discipline with restoration and reconciliation in mind. Go to the person privately. If they won’t listen, take two or three more who have influence. If that doesn’t work, come see me. My hope is that as we fellowship together, we will hold each other to the same biblical standards with love and compassion.

Maybe you have not yet joined the church. Today may be the day. If you have been listening to these messages and you haven’t yet officially joined the church but want to be part of a community that will lock arms with you and help you pursue holiness and experience the transformation God has for you, come see me during the invitation, after the service, or any time during the week. We will talk about it and I will share with you the path for membership.

What would God have you do? Are you a citizen of the kingdom? If you have not yet made Jesus Lord and Savior, it begins there. Becoming a member requires that we are first a member of his kingdom. We acknowledge our rebellion against him. We choose to turn from our sins and surrender control of our lives to him. We make a commitment to doing life his way wile asking forgiveness for the sins already committed. The Bible teaches us that if we will confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. You can walk out of here a new person and with a new family. All you need to do is ask forgiveness, ask him to take over, and commit to doing life his way. He will forgive you and begin recovering God’s design for your life.

What commitment do you need to make today?