Christianity is the ongoing process of becoming like God, emulating Jesus Christ in our everyday lives as we await His return. When conflict with our brethren creates a breach in our human relationships, it can also cause a breach in our relationship with Christ.
Since all of us sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), we should first of all recognize our own shortcomings (Romans 2:1). Removing planks from our own eyes better enables us to detect slivers in our brother’s eyes (Matthew 7:3). When we admit our sins and repent of them, we will have less difficulty forgiving others.
We should believe the best about others (1 Corinthians 13:7), and we should cover a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12; 17:9). We are to be easily entreated (James 3:17, King James Version). We do not break God’s law when someone sins against us (Psalm 119:165).
Disagreements and offenses that are not easily resolved will come (Acts 15:39; Proverbs 18:19). Yet we are to be patient one with the other and bear one another’s burdens (Colossians 3:12-14). We must forgive complaints against each other. Often disagreements are not sin. This is something we need to carefully consider as disagreements do indeed occur for a number of reasons not related to a sin against us.
If a brother or sister in the faith does indeed sin against us, God’s Word tells us how to work through even this. Matthew 18 then applies. I plan to cover this process in detail in a future sermon as there is much confusion even in this but want to preview one aspect of this process now.
Here in Matthew 18, Jesus instructs us in the steps necessary to effectively restore a peaceful relationship again where there has been a sin committed against one party.
The steps in summary are: Step 1) The offended party is to go to the offender in private and seek to resolve the difficulty and reconcile (verse 15). If both parties have godly attitudes and are able to understand the issue, they will be united as brothers. If the offender “will not hear,” then… Step 2) The offended party is required to take one or two witnesses to testify to the attempted reconciliation (verse 16). If reconciliation is not forthcoming, then…
Step 3) One or both parties, along with the witnesses, take the matter to the Church (verse 17). I need to stop before proceeding to the last step as here is where much confusion can exist with some, which can result in grievous sin being committed. So here I desire to spend some time in detail in this message.
The word church referred to in Matthew 18:17 is from the Greek word ekklesia. All other New Testament uses of this word refer to the assembly of believers, so it is thought by some that in step 3 a matter is brought before the entire body of baptized members. Is this what the Scriptures require? What was the practice in the early New Testament Church?
The context of this passage helps us understand. In the next verse (verse 18), Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew Poole’s Commentary explains: “By the church then must be meant those who had power to bind and loose. Now though at this time there was no particular church formed, yet there were some who had a power to bind and loose. Christ had given such a power to his apostles.”
Jesus has built His Church, and at no time has the Church been without leadership. Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in every church (Acts 14:23). In his letter to Titus, Paul commanded him to “appoint elders in every city” (Titus 1:5). This has been an established practice in the Church ever since. Elders are the recognized leaders in the Church and are the ones determining who should be as a “heathen” and “tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). God exercises His authority through the elders by granting them power to make judgments and to disfellowship. This is the way God preserves unity and peace in the Church when members will not accept and apply correction.
Let’s now look at some reasons to conclude that the “church” in this passage cannot mean the whole congregation:
God has given the responsibility for putting doctrine and judgment into the Church to apostles, leaders, ministers (Ephesians 2:20). The example in Acts 15:6 shows the apostles and elders taking the lead in discussions and decisions in the Jerusalem conference.
Among the membership of God’s Church, there are spiritual babes, totally unqualified to make spiritual judgments that are binding on the Church (1 Corinthians 3:1- 3; Hebrews 5:12-14).
God has appointed ministers to pastor, lead, teach, admonish and make judgments in the Church (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Even in Old Testament Israel, leaders and rulers chosen to make judgments were “able men,” not average Israelites (Exodus 18:21-22). Both Deuteronomy 17:8-11 and 19:16-17 show that the priests were to judge. They were to “pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.” It can be reasonably concluded that to “tell it to the church” means to bring it to the authorities in the Church, Christ’s ministry.
We conclude that step 3, bringing the matter to the Church, must be conducted in a private manner. The ministry (in most cases the pastor) will sometimes seek further guidance from other elders or supervisors in making difficult judgments. The goal is godly judgment that will lead all parties to reconciliation and peace. Should members refuse to “hear the church,” as evidenced by repentance and reconciliation, they must be removed from fellowship for their own good as well as for the good of the congregation. The door to future reconciliation after repentance must be held open by both the offended party and the ministry.
Returning to the summary that we paused:
Step 3) One or both parties, along with the witnesses, take the matter to the leadership of the Church (verse 17) absolutely not to the congregation. Step 4) The leadership of the Church either renders a judgment (verse 17) or decides not to render a judgment.
As indicated there may be circumstances in which the Church does not choose to render a decision or take disciplinary action. If there is no evidence that the offending party has sinned and refuses to repent, then the matter may be left to heal with spiritual growth over time.
Even so, all parties are expected to go in peace and not sow discord among brethren. In any case, the ministry will counsel toward reconciliation and peace. This does not mean that the relationship will always be restored to close friendship and trust. Scripture shows that “a brother offended is harder to win than a strong city” (Proverbs 18:19).
The restoration of damaged relationships almost always takes time. Each of these steps should be carefully considered in light of the time needed for understanding and change to take place. This process will be most fruitful when not pursued in an emotional state. Often, it is necessary to calm down and wait for others to also calm down before proceeding with the steps to reconciliation. This time between steps should be used to examine the self and to pray about the desired restoration. We must all be aware of and avoid bitterness which so often results in sin.
There are more scriptures that I could have detailed in this message and again, it is my desire to go through Matthew 18 in more detail in a future sermon, but I felt I needed to give a detailed written explanation of verse 17 which reads, “Tell it to the church” as failure to understand this critical aspect can cause, and perhaps even has caused some (unconsciously) to do what is detestable in God’s sight; the sowing of discord among brethren.