Series Thirteen: Church Membership and Discipline

by Jonathan Anderson

Should I stay in my church or should I find another one? This is one of the hardest questions for a pastor to answer. Sometimes it comes from a selfish heart, such as, “The music pastor won’t let my son play the drums.” However, it often comes from someone who genuinely wants wisdom. For example, if someone comes with this question, and the circumstances revolve around difficulties with their church leadership, giving counsel can become challenging very quickly.

Imagine our own culpability as we try to advise or counsel someone trying to answer this question. We could actually encourage or empower a divisive, dissentious, or disgruntled family to go against godly (though imperfect) leaders whom God has actually placed over them. We have all seen the “so-called facts” provided, which seemed to present a clear-cut case of unbiblical and ungodly leadership. But as is often the case, we find out afterwards that evidence which would have vindicated the leadership and indicted the disgruntled sheep was conveniently omitted. “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov 18:13).

On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine a worse scenario than preventing a true sheep from breaking away from disguised wolves, because we quickly encouraged them to serve where they are and remain loyal. After all, every church has its fair share of flaws, right? In a world where false shepherds love to feed themselves by fleecing sheep and goats alike, I’m not comfortable with blind encouragement towards loyalty to every social gathering that calls itself a church of Jesus Christ.

Early in my ministry, I crippled myself in these conversations, because I imagined that according to my own wisdom that I was the judge over the trial. The responsibility fell to me to weigh the evidence and give a verdict. Any personal wisdom or insight is wrong for many reasons. Besides the fact that I lack the wisdom of Solomon, I am never the judge of another’s church, no matter how much wisdom I have. I felt an impossible responsibility to give a verdict about leaders, philosophies, and convictions held by ministries of which I was largely unaware. Yet I have seen the foolishness of thinking that I could gain enough information from one conversation, and more importantly, that I was even supposed to sit as a personal judge over others.

There is a better way. Instead of making a personal judgment call and trying to micro-manage people’s lives, we must simply tell them where God desires for them to worship and serve. I realize that the use of the word “simply” in that last sentence might seem absurd. You may be wondering, How can we possibly presume to tell someone which church God wants anyone to go to? Fortunately, we don’t have to presume.

God tells us in His Word precisely what His will is for His children. They will need to inform their minds with what Christ’s church really is, and submit to it in their heart with their lives. If God is passionate about His people (Zeph 3:17), if He loves His church (Eph 5:25), and if involvement in the church is important for the edification, strength, unity, and maturity of His children (Eph 4:10–16), then we can be sure that a true knowledge of God in His Word gives us everything we need to discern where God wants us to worship, serve, and be equipped (2 Pet 1:2–4, 19–21). God wants you to go to a church that has the following non-negotiable realities:

1. God’s Voice Is the Only One Heard in the Church
2. Qualified Men Lead the Church
3. Kingdom Membership Is Manifested in Church Membership

Or, more simply stated:

1. Preaching of the Word
2. Qualified Leadership
3. Church Discipline

Please allow me to be candid. This list of non-negotiables has temporal limitations. Due to the climate of American Evangelicalism, the way one articulates what the unchanging church of Jesus Christ actually is will change in order to faithfully stand against the common errors of the day. You would be right to ask how a “non-negotiable” could be on or off my list based on circumstances within the American church. Allow me to explain using an illustration from church history.

In the English Reformation, hundreds died opposing the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. For English Reformers, their short list of what constitutes a church included primarily the preaching of the Word of God and the proper administration of the Lord’s Supper. I agree, I concur, and do not doubt that they died for a cardinal doctrine—the sufficiency of Christ’s once and for all priestly work on the cross (not to mention that the propitiatory mass worships a different Christ than the one in the New Testament). Now, for them, church discipline wasn’t necessarily in the forefront because Rome practiced church discipline (and disciplined Protestant bishops with capital punishment). My list doesn’t include proper administration of the ordinances because that isn’t the particular threat to the gospel in Protestant churches today.

Admittedly, this document has a life span. It may not be helpful for untaught Christians who are asking this same question 500 years from now. However, what makes a true church is unchanging, just like the gospel is unchanging. To that end, regardless of the fact that transubstantiation will always be a heresy, I didn’t put it on my list because of today’s climate in Evangelicalism. Similarly, regardless of the fact that English Reformers didn’t put church discipline on their list,¹ it was just as essential of a true church then as it is now.

God’s Voice Is the Only One Heard in the Church

This non-negotiable means the preaching of the Word. Each reality of a true church is a simple statement, but I am also providing a brief description for each of the three. The brief description makes for a more memorable outline, but the actual heading is my attempt to help an untaught Christian discern what is meant by the brief description. In conversation I would try to use the full statement given in the heading. For instance, it isn’t always helpful to tell a young Christian that the Word needs to be taught in church, if their pastor loads a man-made message full of biblical references. You have to be exposed to the true exposition of God’s Word, taste its intricacies, and be transformed by it before you can know whether you are truly listening to a faithful, exegetical exposition of God’s Word. It takes discernment to recognize if the pastor is faithfully teaching God’s Word in an expository manner.

Christ is the Head of the church. He is the authority, and He is in control (Eph 1:20–23; 4:15; 5:23; Col 1:18–20).² Tt is common for Paul to couple Christ’s authority and dominion over all things universal with His Headship and control over the church particular (cf. Eph 1:20–21 with vv. 22–23; Col 1:15–17 with vv. 18–20; Col 2:10 with v. 19). Christ is in control over the church; He leads the church, governs the church, and feeds the church with the spiritual nourishment and instruction necessary for our growth and maturing good. The way this happens is through the proclamation of God’s Word. If God is the Head, then it goes without saying that the only mouth on this body is His. His is the only voice. His is the only message. His is the only plan and blueprint for ministry.

Jesus’ voice is the only voice in the church. All other voices are imposters, and minimum-wage shepherds (John 10:12–13). This is what Jesus refers to when He talks about His voice as a shepherd (John 10:3–4), and the dilemma of having competition between the voices of a stranger and the Shepherd. True sheep hear Christ’s voice and don’t recognize the other voices (John 10:5). True sheep will follow the preaching of God’s Word. Christ’s church hears His voice clearly and follows joyfully, while there is static interference between the voice of a stranger and a true Christian’s ear.

In order to answer the question, Which church does God want me to attend, the sheep of Jesus Christ need to listen for Christ’s voice. Wherever there is a body of believers, you will inevitably hear the voice of God and not the voice of man. And, you will see true sheep submitting to His voice and following His leadership (John 10:26–27).

In both of Paul’s letters to Timothy, his disciple in the ministry and pastor at Ephesus, he was told to maintain the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Failure at this point renders all other ministry, labor, praying, discipling, observing of ordinances, meetings of needs, and singing of songs absolutely vain. For instance, in the first letter he wrote, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim 4:13–16).

In his second letter to Timothy, he wrote, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:1–2).

These are not the lone occurrences in the pastoral epistles with a charge for God’s Word to be read and taught. If you think that the teaching of the truth, sound doctrine, holding to the faith, and the entrustment of it—ensuring that God’s voice is the only voice in the church—is not a major concern, then consider these additional texts: 1 Tim 1:3–7, 18–19; 3:2; 4:1–6; 5:17; 6:2–5, 20–21; 2 Tim 1:13–14; 2:2, 14–18, 24–25; 3:10–17; Titus 1:1, 3, 9, 10–14; 2:1–2, 7, 15; 3:1, 8–9.

These passages provide the positive instruction from God on how He wants us to find a church where His voice is heard clearly. It is helpful (and unfortunately necessary) to point out that the opposite of God’s voice being heard clearly is not God’s voice being silenced, but being twisted, edited, and altered. The opposite of God’s voice being heard exclusively isn’t God’s voice not being heard, but God’s voice being overpowered by the voice of strangers, hired hands, and false shepherds. How do they do it? Here’s a short list from their playbook:

• They cast doubt on what God said. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’” (Gen 3:1).
• They deny what God said. “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die!’” (Gen 3:4).
• They affirm and quote God’s Word, but supply another meaning. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, and what kind of wisdom do they have?” (Jer 8:8–9).
• They create their own message and say, “Thus says the Lord” (Jer 23:16–22, 25–28, 32).
• They call the biblical message the opinion of the preacher and contradict it with their own opinion. (Amos 7:10–17). Pay attention to Amaziah, who labels Amos’ message as merely human (v. 11) and calls him to stop prophesying (v. 13). Amos then proceeds to speak more of God’s Word (vv. 16a, 17a).
• They distract from God’s Word by focusing on what is marginal, academic, and fruitless (1 Tim 1:4, 6–7; 4:7).
• They affirm parts of sound doctrine with their lips, but deny holiness with their life (Titus 1:16; 2 Pet 2:1–3, 18–22; Jude 4).
• They twist and pervert the meaning of Scripture from its original intent (2 Pet 3:16).

As you can see, these tactics are timeless. It takes some time to show an untaught Christian what they must see in God’s Word, which would ultimately enable them to see the subtleties of the enemy. He does his best and most deceptive work, not in the world, but within the church as an angel of light.

Qualified Men Lead the Church

This non-negotiable means having qualified leadership. I would enjoy using the phrase “qualified elders,” but that may confuse the issue in many people’s minds. I prefer the biblical terminology and substance, but I wouldn’t want to sway someone from a biblical church that has godly and qualified men giving oversight, yet uses a term other than “elder.” (Some denominational traditions use other terms.)

It is hard to overestimate the importance of church leadership. You may have heard the satirical expression, “The monkeys are running the zoo!” Though I have never gone to such a proverbial zoo, I can imagine how chaotic and dangerous that situation would be in real life. The same danger threatens churches all over the globe. Unqualified leadership will potentially harm the sheep, distort the gospel, allow wolves into the church, and dishonor Christ.

God alone has authority in the church. As the Head of the church, He has told us in His Word how the church should be run. He has given a delegated authority to men who: 1) desire to bear responsibility for souls, 2) meet certain character requirements, and 3) are recognized as gifted for the task of leading. Paul lists for Timothy and Titus the necessary character requirements for church leaders:

This list is daunting! I am soberly evaluating my own weaknesses as I list them. However, far from calling for perfection, they call for a life lived with such godliness that when an enemy of the gospel maligns and tries to reproach the elder, the whole slanderous project falls apart at takeoff. That’s because the elder’s character is manifestly known by the believers at his church, and he is above reproach.

When it comes to answering the question, Which church does God want me to attend? you have to avoid seeking to find the kind of leaders you might naturally want. Instead, you must find leaders whom God has designated in these two passages. Imagine finding the pastor of your dreams who happens to be characterized as “self-willed.” This man may be gregarious, funny and lively in the pulpit, and he makes all your visiting friends feel at home and comfortable. But what happens when the superficially ideal pastor struggles not to impose his will, to seek his own ends, and to pursue selfish ambition? How can this man on a weekly basis, think so little of himself that he will lose himself in what God has said, and unleash it for his people in such a way that Christ remains the Head of the church? His own message, his own desires, his own goals will captivate him, and he will lead the church slowly, perhaps even unwittingly to some degree, away from Christ as he preaches himself (2 Cor 4:5; 11:2–3). Clearly, every one of these qualifications is important.

From an evaluation standpoint, you don’t have to go and spend 40 hours a week with every elder to see if elder #4 manages his home as well as elder #5. No, the issue is one of godly credibility and humility before the Word. When the church is given careful oversight by such men, you can trust them as God’s delegated leadership over your church! That is refreshingly simple. I understand there are many who have been burned by bad leadership, but no one has ever been burned by Christ, and He has ordered His church this way. We can trust Him entirely!

Kingdom Membership Is Manifested in Church Membership

This non-negotiable means church discipline. If you want to know which church God wants you to commit to, He wants you to go where the Christians are! That may sound unhelpful, but let me explain. There are all sorts of gatherings that don’t constitute churches. No one, to my knowledge, has ever threatened to call the line at the grocery store a church. Let’s suppose that a biblically-qualified man, who was called of God and gifted to teach, went to a supermarket and began preaching the gospel. Is that a church?

You would likely respond, “Of course not, because it would only satisfy points one and two, but not three.” But is that a hasty response? Let’s send this same imaginary preacher down the street to fulfill numbers one and two at a wholesale membership store. Now we have “membership,” but would simple membership now make it a church? What’s the difference between signing up for a club and church membership? The difference is the nature of that membership. Membership in a church isn’t just an affirmation of the Christian to the truth of the gospel, but also an affirmation from heaven carried out on earth. It recognizes and affirms that members are forgiven, blood-bought sinners who have citizenship in the coming kingdom.

I realize that the majority of “churches” in America don’t practice church discipline. There is a simple reason that I hold that church discipline is a non-negotiable of the church of Jesus Christ. It has to do with the nature of the church and the nature of church discipline. Church discipline (or a better term “church membership”) is the manifest delineation of those who are covered by the blood of Christ and forgiven versus those who are still in their sins living in an unrepentant way. There are a few passages which teach us church discipline (Matt 16:18–20; 18:15–20; Titus 3:10–11), and there are several which teach how it was carried out in the New Testament church (Acts 5:1–11; 1 Cor 5:1–5; 2 Cor 2:5–11; 1 Tim 1:18–20; 2 Tim 2:16–18).

In order to prove that church discipline is not just right, but actually a non-negotiable, I’m going to focus primarily on the two passages in Matthew. But in order to summarize the rest of the teachings, let me make a few comments about the purpose of discipline in general.

1. Discipline is for the purpose of purity of the church.
2. Discipline is loving to the church.
3. Discipline is loving to the person being disciplined.

I’m going to presume that no one is going to argue the first two points,³ but the third point causes many problems. The reason the process of discipline is loving to the person being disciplined is two-fold. When the church excommunicates someone from fellowship, they are simply agreeing with what God has said about anyone living an unrepentant lifestyle—they are still in their sin, outside the church, and unreconciled to God. It is loving because it alerts the individual to their need, instead of strengthening the deception that they are a Christian when they aren’t. It is loving to the person who is disciplined, because the goal of church discipline is repentance and restoration: “If he listens to you, you have won your brother” (Matt 18:16). Matthew 16:18–20 is most helpful in this discussion for many reasons, but I’ll simplify it and focus on two reasons. One, this is the first mention of the church in the entire Bible. It is no small thing that at the very introduction of the church to humanity, Jesus teaches about discipline.

Second, notice verse 19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Jesus Christ is actually giving a delegated authority to Peter (and all who lead the church with him; cf. Matt 18:1 with v. 18; cf. John 20:19–23) to faithfully proclaim the gospel and call sinners to repent. The call of the gospel includes “Repent … be baptized … ” (Acts 2:38) as well as many others, including, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” (Acts 2:40).

When sinners repent, entrance to the church and gaining the promises of the kingdom are simultaneous (Acts 2:41–47). To that point, entrance to the church and entrance to the kingdom ought to be as identical as possible. In verse 18 it says that whatever is bound on earth shall have been bound in heaven. This means that when a sinner doesn’t repent of a sinful lifestyle when called to it (Matt 18:15–20), the church must disfellowship with him. And when this happens, that sin will have already been bound in heaven! This is a unique construction in Greek called a future perfect periphrastic. What that means is that in the future (i.e., after Christ’s resurrection and Pentecost), when discipline happens in the church on earth, the same reality will have already been the case in heaven.

The picture is the harmonic resonance that occurs between two perfectly matched tuning forks. When one is struck next to the second, you can actually grab it and silence its reverberating and you will hear the second one vibrating simply because of the harmonic resonance. This symbolizes what happens in church discipline. God has desired that the church be the very vehicle where His children can have encouragement and stability in the evaluating of their faith. Outside the church, a regenerate individual would be helpless in his ability to identify true, saving faith and to enjoy assurance. But inside the church, kingdom citizenship is reflected by church membership. When someone’s life pattern contradicts the gospel, and they don’t respond to the appropriate loving advances of the church body (Matt 18:15–17), then excommunication leaves them on their own, outside the benefits of the church, with the hope that they would repent and be restored, and enjoying the assurance that their faith is keeping them in a position of trusting in the finished work of Christ.

There are perhaps countless issues that will strengthen or weaken the church. These three, however, are certainly ones that must be in place for Christ to own an assembly as His church. There may be more non-negotiables (like transubstantiation, illustrated above, which pertains to cardinal doctrines), but there are certainly not fewer. If you or someone you are seeking to advise finds himself in a “church” that doesn’t meet this criteria, encourage him to seek out his leadership and see if those leaders are planning on moving in this direction of submission to Christ. If not, then he needs to find a new church where he can be a member. By understanding some foundational ecclesiology (i.e., the doctrine of the church), we can have confidence that we aren’t judging anyone, but we are submitting to the Head of the church, Jesus Christ.