Kingdom Community

One final reminder for this first step in the process of church discipline: This step doesn't involve any kind of official organization or any leaders in the church. It begins between you and the other person, which is where most church discipline is intended to happen. This kind of interaction is supposed to happen all the time in the context of our relationships with one another. If we would only get this first step right, we might find that about 95 percent of the work of church discipline and restoration has been taken care of before anyone else becomes involved.

Step 2: Small group clarification

Next, Jesus addresses the second step in the church discipline and restoration process, the step that becomes necessary for a brother "if he won't listen" (v. 16). If a brother refuses to listen to loving confrontation, Jesus says to "take one or two more with you" (v. 16). He cites the Old Testament requirement for two or three witnesses to establish a fact (Deut 19:15). In the context of the church, this step of discipline involves one or two others—the circle remains really small here—and these should be believers who are gentle, humble, loving, and willing to go with you to speak to an unrepentant brother or sister. The point of this step is to broaden the circle slightly so that one or two others get involved in the situation, but not to begin ganging up on that brother or sister with people whom you can build a case with. Instead, these other believers can help you think through the situation better. A church leader does not necessarily need to be involved at this point, though he could be. Oftentimes it's best to involve someone else who knows and cares for that particular brother or sister. This increases the chances that the confrontation will be humble and gracious.244

Step 3: Church admonition

In verse 17 the word "church" (ekklesia) appears for the second time in Matthew's Gospel. At this third step, the circle of involvement in church discipline grows to include the gathering of believers in a local church, as they are made aware of the brother or sister's unrepentant sin. This step may sound unloving or even embarrassing, but we need to feel the tone behind what Jesus is saying here. We're tempted to think, "Why tell a whole group of people about this brother and his sin?" In reality, however, the entire church is saying together, "We love you, and we want you to come back to Christ." God loves us so much that if we are caught in sin, He will send an entire army of believers to us as a demonstration of His love and mercy.

Step 4: Church excommunication

In the remainder of verse 17, Jesus lays out the consequences for a person who refuses to repent after being confronted by the entire church body. He says to consider the person "like an unbeliever and a tax collector." In other words, treat him like he is no longer your brother in Christ or part of the church body. He must be excommunicated, or expelled, from the church.

While this fourth step may sound extreme in our day, keep in mind that it is not optional. This is a command from Jesus, so that a failure to do this in the church is sin. If we're honest, excommunication is a difficult step for everyone involved. Some people struggle to understand why we do it at all. Isn't the church supposed to be welcoming? Though it may be difficult, church discipline is what Jesus calls us to do, a point we see played out in the early church. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5 Paul instructed the Corinthians to remove a man from the assembly for gross sexual immorality. Again, the goal in church discipline and restoration is that people will see their sin and return to Christ and that sin will not spread further like leaven (1 Cor 5:5-6). This is for the good of that individual and the protection and purity of the church. Ultimately, it's for the glory of God in the body of Christ.

Because church discipline can be difficult, we must trust Jesus in this process and obey what He says. It is good, therefore, to reflect on God's promises amid church discipline and restoration.

First, He has given us His authority. In verse 18 Jesus says, "I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and245 whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven." This language is very similar to Matthew 16:19. Again, Jesus is not giving some special authority to us outside of Himself, but rather it is attached to Him and His Word. He is saying that what we do as a church in His name, with His authority, is a reflection of what He does in heaven. So, if someone comes to the church and says, "I am living in sin and I am unrepentant—I will not turn to Christ," then we can say to that person with authority, "You are living bound in sin and your sin is not forgiven." To be clear, their sin is not unforgiven because we said so; their sin is unforgiven because Christ has said so in His Word. Similarly, if someone says that they are willing to turn from their sin, then we can say to them with full confidence that their sin is forgiven and they are now free from it. Jesus has given us the privilege of proclaiming what He has said to be true.

The fact that Christ has given us His authority is important to remember as we carry out the work of excommunication. Someone might ask, "By whose authority are you doing this?" According to Matthew 18:18, we are doing this by Jesus' authority. One writer said, "Never is the church more in harmony with heaven and operating in perfect accord with her Lord than when dealing with sin to maintain purity" (MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 126). There is a humble confidence that comes with knowing that Christ has given us His authority to speak against sin in the church.

A second promise we can take comfort from in this passage appears in verse 19. Jesus says that if we "agree about any matter you pray for," the Father will do it. He has granted us His support. This is another verse that has often been abused. Jesus is not giving us a blank check whereby we simply find someone else who agrees with us, and then God automatically responds by giving us whatever we want. Remember the context: Jesus has just finished talking about the scenario when two or three believers confront a brother in sin (vv. 15-16). He's saying that we have the full support of the Father in heaven when we gather together in unison to confront sin in the church. Jesus knows that church discipline is not easy, and that we will be tempted to shy away from it and not carry it out. He's encouraging us with the resources of heaven.

Related to God's promised support is a third promise in this passage: He has guaranteed us His presence. This is probably the most abused verse in this passage. If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've likely heard the idea that where two or three believers are gathered, Jesus is there. But what about when you were in your prayer246 closet alone today—does that mean Jesus was waiting for someone else to show up before He came into the picture? No, definitely not (Matt 6:6). Jesus is not saying, "Once you've got two or three together, count Me in." Instead, in this context He's talking about the difficult work of church discipline when two or three believers are gathered to address a brother or sister living in unrepentant sin. When we do the tough work of gentle, loving confrontation, we can be assured that Christ's presence, which is always with us (Matt 28:20), will be especially real and strong in the middle of that situation. This should give us great confidence.

This is the last exhortation for the church in Matthew 18. The point of the parable of the Unforgiving Servant is fairly self-explanatory, and it relates to Jesus' discussion in the previous section. Although the conversation has moved on from church discipline, the way in which we treat one another's sin is still the issue at hand.

In those days, it was common among rabbis to encourage people to forgive a brother for repeated sin up to three times, after which there would be no more forgiveness. So Peter, thinking he had a really big heart, asked Jesus how often he should forgive his brother, possibly even seven times. Jesus responds by saying, "70 times seven" (v. 22). Then, in what can only be labeled an extreme illustration, Jesus tells the story of a man who owed upwards of what today could be labeled millions if not more than a billion dollars, clearly an amount of money that this servant could never repay to the king. And yet the king, out of sheer compassion for the servant, forgave the entire debt.

There are a number of takeaways from this parable. In Christ, we have received extravagant grace. To use the analogy of the debt this servant owed, there is no price-tag that you or I could ever put on our sinfulness before an infinitely holy God. When you and I think, "Well, I haven't sinned as much as this person or that person," we show that we have no clue as to the extent of our own sin. Our debt is deep—infinitely deep. But Christ has paid it. Out of sheer compassion, the Father sent His Son to endure the wrath you and I deserve, and now we are free from sin's penalty—free not only as a servant, but as a son!

Because we have received extravagant grace in Christ, as Christians, we now extend extravagant grace. How harsh for this servant who was forgiven a large fortune to go to a man who owed him a tiny fraction247 of that amount and put him in prison for failure to pay. That's outlandish! Yet for a Christian not to forgive is to do the exact same thing. The Bible is not saying that it's easy to forgive or that it's natural to forgive; however, it's Christian to forgive. In fact, the Christian has no other option. We forgive not because we have to, but because in love we are compelled to.

Only Jesus can enable the kind of forgiving heart this passage calls for. Gratefully, He reminds us of the extravagant compassion He has shown to us as the least deserving sinners, and by His grace, He enables us to extend that same extravagant compassion to those whom we would label as the least deserving. This kind of forgiveness should characterize the church.

There are a number of ways to respond to a text like Matthew 18. As a part of a local church, we must care for every individual member. This is a challenge for all churches, and larger churches face some especially thorny questions in this regard; nevertheless, this is a challenge we must take up. One way to begin is by elevating church membership. Being a member of a local church is not very important to most professing Christians today. Church hopping and shopping are common in much of evangelicalism, as people are wary of committing themselves to a church. If this passage teaches us anything, it teaches us that it's important for every Christian to be committed to a church. By doing so, we say to the church body, "If you wander from the Lord, I'm coming after you, and if I wander from the Lord, I want you to come after me." This is the kind of care Jesus calls us to.

Matthew 18 should also lead us to respond on a more personal level. Here are some helpful questions for application. As Christians:

These are not easy questions to deal with in our lives, and these are not easy issues to deal with in the church. It would be easier, or so we think, just to sit back and ignore these questions. That's the tack that many churches have taken today. But as followers of Christ, we don't have the option of ignoring these issues. Why not? Because of how we have been loved: the Father has protected us, pursued us, restored us, and forgiven us. How, then, can we not pursue others as individuals and as churches with this kind of love? Obedience is not an option when it comes to church discipline, and we shouldn't want it to be. May the love of the Father through Christ compel the love of His children in the church.