Matthew 18:15-20 - Play to Win

Church Discipline is an opportunity to gain victory in Jesus.

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Gospels: Week 9 — Christ’s authority and coming judgment

Photo: Jack Sharp via Unsplash

Matthew 18:15–20 (NASB95)

¹⁵ “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ “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. ¹⁷ “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.

¹⁸ “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.

¹⁹ “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. ²⁰ “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 85

Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline?

A. According to the command of Christ:

Those who, though called Christians,

profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives,

and after repeated and loving counsel

refuse to abandon their errors and wickedness,

and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers,

fail to respond also to their admonition—

such persons the officers exclude

from the Christian fellowship

by withholding the sacraments from them,

and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ.

Such persons,

when promising and demonstrating genuine reform,

are received again

as members of Christ

and of his church.

Summary

Today's passage may begin with the word if, but this particular if comes with the much stronger force of the word when. In other words, the procedures Jesus unpacks here aren't given just in case, perchance, your brother happens to sin, but in the absolute certainty that your brother will sin.

What do you do when you find yourself on the receiving end of your brother's sin? Since most of our readers are upper Midwesterners (and the rest wish they were!), our answer in these situations too often is to do nothing. We look the other way and pretend it never happened. Or we brush it off, saying it wasn't really that big of a deal.

But sins are always a big deal; they may not always seem so to us, but they are to the One whose thrice-holy character was deeply offended and injured by it. And truth be told, while we work hard to make it look like the offense bounced right off of us, the pain that sin inflicts tends to simmer and fester within us, giving rise to a whole new set of sins like gossip, bitterness and anger. Silence simply seeds another cycle of sin.

So Jesus' command for these all to regular occasions is quite simple: Go. Don't blow it off, don't gripe about it to others, and don't sit around stewing on it. Go and show him his fault in private. Though Jesus doesn't say it, what He does say implies it. Go sooner rather than later.

  Dig Deeper  

This passage is simply known as the 'Matthew 18 Principle'. It sets the foundation for discipline within the Church. The second half of the opening sentence frames the goal: to win our brother. Notice it's not to beat our brother (in every sense of the word), but to win him - to bring him back to victory in Jesus. Church discipline must always be focused on restoration, and never retaliation.

When the sinner does not listen, discipline becomes a team sport: take one or two with you. Jesus' point here isn't the exact number, but the principle. The group needs to be just big enough so that every fact may be confirmed. If the sinner still refuses to listen, then the team gets bigger - the whole church gets involved. And if the sinner keeps plugging his ears, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. That is, one who needs to hear and respond to the gospel's command to repent and believe.

The final two verses of today's passage often get yanked from their context and forced to carry theological loads they were never intended for, as if our Father shall do anything that is asked, as long as two agree on earth about it. Or the oft repeated sigh at a church function to which only two or three have gathered that at least Jesus is there in our midst - which, of course, is true, even if that's not what this verse is intended to mean.

What Jesus means here is that when His gathered Church comes together to seek truth and call sinners to repentance, Jesus blesses their efforts. It's no surprise, then, that Jesus' teaching on church discipline comes right after His parable calling us to seek and save the wandering, lost sheep.

So for Jesus, Church discipline isn't something to hide from or be embarrassed about. It must be pursued quickly and often, and not initiated just by church officials, but by those sinned against. It must never be more involved than is necessary, and always provide lots of opportunities to restore the sinner to victory.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who blesses the restorative discipline of the Church;

  ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the wisdom and grace to confront sinners and win them for Christ;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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