Order and Discipline

Matthew 16:13–20 ESV

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Matthew 18:15–20 ESV

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 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 be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 16:13-20; 18:15-20

Belgic Confession Article 32

Message: Order and Discipline

           We’ve been in this section that deals with the church—both thinking about the catholic or one universal church, as well as the local congregation. Article 27 set up the church as the people, true Christian believers, who are under God and awaiting their whole salvation in him. Articles 28 and 29 captured the communal aspect of being part of the church; we don’t live our faith separate from everyone else. Also, we were taught the true church, both the universal and individual congregations, can be seen by the presence of the pure preaching of the gospel, pure administration of the sacraments, and what we have before us tonight, practices church discipline for correcting faults.

           Articles 30 and 31 dealt with government and officers in the church—ministers, elders, and deacons. We also noted that our denominations have included the offices of commissioned pastors and professors as ordained offices. These are important, as Article 30 supplied, “The true church ought to be governed according to the spiritual order that our Lord has taught us in his word…[By the council of the church] true religion is preserved; true doctrine is able to take its course; and evil people are corrected spiritually and held in check.” That’s a bit of updated language since the version in the Psalter, but the message is the same: the called, elected, and ordained leaders of the church can exercise a real authority and discipline among the members of the body of Christ.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you have ever served on Council or Consistory, or maybe you just care deeply about how our denominations work, you may have seen these books before. These are the “Church Order and Its Supplements” for the CRC and the “Book of Church Order” for the RCA. More or less these are the basic rules or policies which our churches, classes, synods, and those in them, especially leaders, are expected to follow. Some of the things they lay out are how one becomes ordained, what are the different parts of worship services, how do we treat weddings and funerals, and both have a section on procedures for discipline.

           Just about any book or commentary on the Reformed tradition of the church talks about how we, Reformed people, like order. We tend to point to 1 Corinthians 14 verses 33 and 40, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace,” and in the church and in our worship, “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” At least traditionally, people in the RCA and the CRC have appreciated things being laid out, and having a standard procedure from one church to the next. There’s a belief that having this order adds up not simply to uniformity, but hopefully to unity in the body, that is the church.

           And yet, one of our dearly held confessions, one of these documents that seeks to organize our beliefs, tells us to be careful. The updated version of Belgic Confession Article 32 states, “Although it is useful and good for those who govern the churches to establish and set up a certain order among themselves for maintaining the body of the church, they ought always to guard against deviating from what Christ, our only Master, has ordained for us. Therefore we reject all human innovations and all laws imposed on us, in our worship of God, which bind and force our consciences in any way. So, we accept only what is proper to maintain harmony and unity and to keep all in obedience to God.” 

De Brès is telling those who read this, church orders and policies can be good, but they shouldn’t become the main thing. They shouldn’t cause us to stumble as we seek to follow Christ.  I was reminded of a few times when I was preparing for my ordination exam and talking about issues with other ministers, they told me to be sure to base my positions in Scripture, not the church order. These books and the articles in them can help us, but they are not the gospel. They should be shaped by Scripture, but by no means are they completely inspired and infallible.     

           That leads then to discipline. Some questions that may come to mind are: What is it about? When is it necessary? How does the church handle discipline? I’ve started the way I have tonight, because I think the way many of our minds have been culturally programmed to work is that if we have a rule, we are either to follow it, or if someone breaks it, we go searching for the punishment. Many of you likely raised your kids with that, just as I was, obedience and disobedience, sometimes giving praise, more often disciplining with punishment. The typical verse we think about is Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”

So, someone might take a book of church order for their denomination, and say we better follow this perfectly. If we catch someone who’s not, we had better fix them or make it known. But again, things like this are a tool that can be useful and good, but they ought not to become too rigid or strict on us, or worse, replacing Christ and the freedom we find in the Bible. As we consider the topic of discipline, it must be rooted, first and foremost, in the word of God. 

           What Scripture teaches is that discipline comes in the relationship of the church, and it deals with sin and salvation. In Matthew 16 verse 19, Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” There’s differences of opinion, is that specifically for Peter or all the apostles or the church? It seems at the broadest to be for the churches’ leaders. Then we have a repeated line here and in chapter 18 verse 18, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” That imagery is like an arrest or an imprisonment. Someone who has done wrong is bound; someone who is innocent or who has served their punishment is loosed, is released, or freed.

           So, given that declaration, can the church, at least its leadership, go around and say to whomever, given satisfactory evidence, “You’re condemned to hell, and you’re saved to heaven”? Is that what Jesus is saying? And if we make such declarations here on earth, he’ll listen and make that happen in eternity? 

Especially if we take it that way, these passages seem primarily about punishment: a person who has done wrong should be punished now, but in the end will definitely get what they have coming. Throughout Scripture, we do find some seemingly severe punishments. Leviticus 18 is filled with sexual practices that were not lawful for the Israelites. If anyone committed one of these acts, verse 29 says, “such persons must be cut off from their people.” Numbers 15 verses 22 through 29 deal with the atonement that a person could make if they sinned unintentionally, but God says in verses 30 and 31, “‘Anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’” Also, in Numbers 19 verse 20, “If a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.” There are also several sins which the Israelites were commanded to include a death penalty. 

           1 Corinthians 5, so in the New Testament and the early church now, Paul dealt with a matter of sexual immorality by saying, “Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord…I have written to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people…You must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat…‘Expel the wicked man from among you.’” 1 Timothy 1 verses 19 and 20, Paul told Timothy how some have rejected prophecies, faith, and a good conscience, “and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” 

           We can all agree that clearly punishment for sins, especially sin that is not repented of, is something that God takes seriously. That is practiced from the time of Israel and throughout the church. When those who claim to be God’s people have done something vile, something he has warned against, there has been strong punishment called for, even separation from other believers. 

            Let’s be sure to catch that. First, the punishment is on the person. They are to recognize, to understand, that they have disobeyed God. Having committed a certain act and possibly continuing in that, they are living in such a way that is not in line with what he desires. Such a person, the unrepentant sinner, may not care or think it’s that big of a deal. But God’s word is clear, if they do not change, then they have been “handed over to Satan;” he or she is no longer walking with the Lord. They are punished.   

Second, punishment exercised by the church or the community is also intended for the safeguarding of God’s people and their holiness. The communal aspect of the church I mentioned before is not just in the Belgic Confession. It is founded in Scripture, and how we live impacts each other. If one person is doing something and it becomes acceptable even though it is sinful, that can spread throughout the whole body. So, punishment of one person, cutting them off, ending their relationship with others in the church, is a type of binding that we read about in Jesus’ words.  

When we look at the church today, we don’t often hear discipline being publicly talked about. There have been just a couple of cases in the churches I went to growing up that I know about. The more visible cases are when things happen in megachurches, usually involving well-known pastors or the Catholic Church. Someone has an affair or some other pattern of sexual sin; there have been pastors who have deceived others or committed some severe crime. Depending on their oversight, they might be deposed, defrocked, or suspended. Maybe some of you have heard of excommunication cases though, someone being cut off how 1 Corinthians 5 talks about. 

All of this to say, discipline can be for punishment. However, what we find being referred to in Matthew 16 and 18, and the very mention of that word “excommunication” in the Belgic Confession, is more than just negative punishment. As I said earlier, discipline comes in the relationship of the church, and it deals with sin and salvation. Yes, we hold the keys of the kingdom of God, but as the Heidelberg Catechism alludes to in Questions and Answers 83 to 85, these are towards repentance, opening and closing when appropriate. 

Pastor James Boice gives one of the interpretations of the keys of the kingdom to be when ministers “announce the forgiveness of sins to those who repent of sin and trust Christ.” That is a form of discipline. In Corsica, in our morning services, when we go through a call to confession, a prayer of confession, and an assurance of pardon, we are practicing discipline. If there is anything you have come to worship with, that you are not right with God, you have not sought his forgiveness, his healing, that is a time when you can confess, and all who truly believe and confess can be reminded there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Discipline points to the Savior.

So too, discipline can take the form of what we read about in Matthew 18. This is hopefully happening, and why we don’t have people being marked “under discipline” on our membership rolls on a weekly basis. Hopefully we are doing well to honestly and genuinely take responsibility for our sins against each other. And whether immediately or after a short time, we are privately seeking and giving forgiveness to those who we’ve wronged and who have wronged us. 

It should not be our primary desire to bring each other’s sins into the public eye and into the scrutiny of the church. That is a last resort, when admonishing one other in love and in love for our God who forgives is avoided. At those times, it is right for the leadership of the church to get involved, particularly in matters where harmony and unity are broken by one’s disobedience. 

 We have to remember, biblical discipline practiced by believers and by the church happens in relationship. It’s not that we heard someone did something, and so automatically “Here’s the door” or “Here’s the punishment they get.” Each of us has sinned and we know what it’s like to be sinned against. If a matter persists without repentance or forgiveness, then we do have to practice true love, which may involve separation. But we also hope that all who claim to be Christian, with forgiveness, will come back into the fold of the church. 

It is Christ alone who ultimately holds the final keys, as he says in Revelation 1:18, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” It is his actions—his life and obedience, his death and resurrection, payment and victory, his grace that provides us with the forgiveness of our sins. In the church, we seek not only our individual repentance but for all who come to know the Lord to also know his forgiveness and salvation. Let us pursue this as brothers and sisters living together under our Lord and Savior. Amen.