Church discipline is up to you

When God established his own nation, Israel, the system of government he installed, had no legislature (since it already had the law of God) and no executive branch (someone authorized to use force and coercion to control behavior). Instead, regular people were to govern themselves as individuals and families under the simple code we call the Ten Commandments. When this self-government failed, and actual crimes were committed, there was a bottom-up system of appeals courts that would try the case.

The New Testament’s rules concerning the churches function in the same way: No legislature, dreaming up new rules, and no executive to compel your compliance.

However, this point surprises a lot of Christians, because they’ve been told different things about the topic of “church discipline.” Specifically, they’ve been told that when self-government under the word of the Lord fails among believers, then it’s time to call on the elders and deacons to address the problem. We’ve been trained by our leaders to treat it as an axiom that big problems require the attention of big executive power, the sorts of leaders Jesus called “great ones” in Mark 10:42.

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them,” he said. He follows up immediately with this: “But it shall not be so among you.”

The Bible creates no human executive powers within the churches. We’ve been trained, though, that this is exactly what we must have, to deal with wayward brothers and sisters.

There are several passages that deal with the topic of church discipline. We need these, because our churches are filled with sinners, who do dumb things; hurt one another; and, seem to invent new ways to fail. Read Matthew 18:15-20. Here, Jesus sets out the steps we should take if someone sins against us. First, we go to them and seek to be reconciled. If they refuse, we take someone else with us and try again. If they remain obstinate, then we take the matter to the whole, gathered church, which may decide it’s time to kick out the offender.

I confess I was shocked when a brother challenged me long ago to really read that passage. I mean, read the actual words and pay attention. I had been taught that at step two, the person you take with you should be an elder. Get the “great man” involved early on, see. But, there is nothing about elders or deacons in the entire passage. They’re not named there at all.

The same is true for another, go-to text on church discipline, 1 Corinthians 5 and 6: Lots of stuff about how to deal with knuckleheads messing up in various ways, but no great ones. Instead, it’s about simple church folk, handling issues at the lowest level. There is no mention of church officials taking charge.

Elders and deacons are legitimate jobs. There’s no question. It’s just that neither one involves any executive authority to demand compliance.

Hopefully, it’s not bad news to learn that you, the individual, can’t farm out the job of fixing your relationships within God’s household. Your Christian maturity will show itself (or not) in how you handle these difficult things.

Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at:

[email protected]