The Keys of the Kingdom

Church discipline is one of those subjects no one really wants to talk about. The very thought of taking such an action can keep pastors and elders up at night, and when not done properly (sometimes, even when it is) can create unease and tension in a congregation. For one thing, church members fear that such discipline entails church officers snooping around in someone’s private business, and then outing their private sins to others in the church. For another, church members don’t wish to be perceived as being judgmental toward others. If snooping in personal and private matters is what biblical church discipline entails, then people are be right to be worried. Fortunately, this is not the case.

The prime example where church discipline is applied in the New Testament is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 5, Paul describes a situation in which a member of the church (presumably a prominent member) has “taken his father’s wife.” Paul seems utterly perplexed that someone could do such a thing. “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans” (1 Corinthians 5:1). Not only was this man’s behavior a violation of clear biblical directives and sexual morality, apparently, his act was even considered scandalous to pagans outside the church. Paul’s remedy for this was to excommunicate this man– “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (v. 5).

This individual was to be disciplined because his sin was public, flagrant, and scandalous. No snooping in his private business here. If allowed to continue, his lack of repentance would damage the good reputation of the church with outsiders, who could and would accuse the congregation of hypocrisy–decrying the moral failure of others, while tolerating it in church. In an extreme case like this one, difficult as it is, excommunication is called for. Such an action is like cancer surgery. The disease must be removed before it sickens the whole body. Notice that Paul doesn’t mention the man’s name (or the woman’s for that matter). The Apostle is not about shaming people or embarrassing them in public. Indeed, Paul holds out the hope that this action on the part of the church, will lead to this man’s eventual repentance and restoration and even to his salvation on the day of the Lord. This action (removing the man from the church, likely the woman too) was taken so that the offender consider the gravity of his sin, and repent of it. This action was also taken to protect the reputation and purity of the church.

In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus gives very specific instructions about what to do when disputes arise with members of the church.

“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.

Christians who feel they have been wronged by another are to approach that person directly. The basic principle is not to start by tattling on others who you think have wronged you, rather, you speak to them directly. If you get no satisfaction, you are to bring a witness. If the matter remains unresolved, only then are the leaders of the church to get involved, and only after a persistent pattern of failure to repent and listen to biblical counsel on the offender’s part is the matter to be made public. At the end of the process, the party is to be treated “like a tax collector.”

Taking note of the importance of maintaining the peace and doctrinal purity of the church, the Heidelberg Catechism connects the practice and necessity of church discipline to Jesus’ instruction to his disciples about the keys of the kingdom. Question 83 asks, “What Are the Keys of the Kingdom?” Answer: “The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both of them open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers.”

Although there are countless church jokes to the effect that the keys of the kingdom are in the possession of the church secretary or one of the deacons, when it comes to the keys of the kingdom, the biblical focus falls upon the mission of the church and the message it is to take to the nations.

Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus announced, “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” (Matthew 16:18-19). Reformed Christians take Jesus to be speaking of the church’s mission to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. As the Heidelberg Catechism points out, the preaching of Christ and him crucified, is the divinely-appointed means through which the kingdom of heaven is opened to all those who respond to the gospel with faith and repentance.

But the church’s “binding” function–through which the entrance to the kingdom is closed–refers to those who reject the message of the gospel when it is preached to them–they remain bound in sin. This function of binding (shutting) is also connected to church discipline. Those who profess faith in Christ, but who then act as the unnamed man in Corinth was doing–publicly, flagrantly, and scandalously sinning, without repentance–the kingdom of heaven closed to them through the means of church discipline.

In those difficult and gut-wrenching cases when ministers and elders are called to make the determination that someone’s conduct and refusal to repent raises serious questions about their commitment to Christ, the church must shut the door of the kingdom to them, with the goal of the person’s eventual repentance and restoration.

As tough as it is, church discipline is commanded by Paul, and the procedure to be used is given us by Jesus, and then summarized in the Catechism. Through the preaching of the gospel, the church opens the kingdom to all who believe. But for those who reject the gospel, and who insist upon behaving in such a way as to bring scandal to Christ’s church, the door to the kingdom is closed.