Who doesn’t love a new set of keys—keys to a new car, a new house, or a new office? This Sunday we turn a set of keys that are new to us. But they belong to an institution that is as old as our faith.
In September we worked through a set of texts in our New Testament that outline Jesus’ plan for building his church. In Matthew 16, Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded,
“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
If it’s crucial to make sure the right people have the keys to your house, Jesus takes the question no less seriously for his own kingdom. Three sermons in September answered the question, Who Holds the Keys?. From our first sermon, “The King and His Kingdom,” we learned that Jesus is heaven’s king who manifests his reign in churches that confess his name (Matt. 16:13–18). In week two, “The Keys and the Keepers,” we learned that it is every member’s job to guard Jesus’ name (Matt. 16:19; 18:15–20). In our third week, “Turning the Keys Together,” we examined three case studies to show how the Apostles instructed the churches on the basis of Christ’s teaching—how they applied his blueprint for church membership (Gal. 1:6–9, 1 Cor. 5:1–13, 2 Cor. 2:5–11).
In the weeks following we reviewed and then agreed together on a handful of changes to our Constitution. These changes focused on how we receive and release members at Heritage. That’s what the keys are about: church membership.
Here we are now a few days away from our Family Meeting where we’ll exercise the keys together for the first time. It’s a big moment.
With a new set of keys typically comes some instructions and reminders. So, let’s gather our gains from our three-week study and answer this question: What happens when we turn the keys this Sunday?
Here are six answers to help us pray, prepare, and celebrate together. A handful of pertinent additions from the new Constitution are quoted with bold text.
First, we agree in the Lord by vote to receive and release members.
Very practically, this is what we are doing. By means of a congregational vote, we will make decisions together regarding our membership rolls. Under our Constitution until about one month ago, our Elders made this decision. Our Elders were the final authority for decisions on members—who is added to the rolls or removed by discipline. Members were officially added when we voted at an elders meeting on a Wednesday night. Then members were presented to you at a subsequent Family Meeting when we reported on their testimony of faith in Christ.
So many good things going on there! But consider that constitutionally, our Elders did not even have to tell you the names of these new members. Yikes. Even so, our instincts have pulled us more and more over the years in the direction of congregational involvement and responsibility. For example, the addition of a membership class years back, and later a membership covenant and regular members meetings. When we share the testimonies of new members we communicate our shared responsibility to acknowledge a true confession of Christ. And by presenting these members to you in public, we highlight your responsibility for them and them for you.
So, what changes? This Sunday, we will not report to you that you now have new brothers and sisters for whom you are responsible. Rather, we will “recommend” individuals to you for membership on the basis of their credible confession of faith in Christ. To see that we arrive together ready for business on Sunday, two weeks ago we sent you an email with the names, images, and testimonies of these dear souls. You’ve had the chance to bring to our attention any concerns. The difference might feel subtle, even simple. That’s a good thing. That’s because we’ve been going about this as together as we can short of you making the final decision. Sunday, we’ll turn the keys together when we vote to receive new members.
A small change procedurally. In principle, a big deal. Let’s consider why that is so.
Second, we declare what heaven has already decided concerning these souls.
What could be more powerful than “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”? Jesus picks his metaphors with purpose. Keys open and shut, lock and unlock. But did Jesus really mean to give to the church the power to decide if people go to heaven or hell?
If that doesn’t sound quite right, you’d be right. When Jesus said, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” he used a strained grammatical construction—”shall have been bound in heaven” (emphasis mine). He could have been more simple and direct. But this is how he spoke.
Here’s what this means: we are ambassadors who discern true kingdom citizens and declare them in (by receiving a new member) or out (through church discipline if necessary). When we receive a member into our church, we declare that brother or sister to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. By this corporate act, we vow to treat them as a brother or sister with all of the privileges and responsibilities that membership entails. In short, we want our church rolls to match the roll of heaven.
We’re not deciding who gets in the kingdom, but our declarative responsibility is no small part of our church’s gospel witness. We want to get this right. How can each of us as members arrive at a responsible decision this Sunday when we turn the keys? Must each of us have the same firsthand personal knowledge of these individuals? No. But that doesn’t mean our vote is a mere formality. Rather, our votes are based on evidence.
The testimony of witnesses was crucial to Israel’s legal system (Deut. 19:15). Witnesses substantiate claims. This substantiation was the basis for Timothy’s encouragement concerning the genuineness of his own faith when Paul wrote to him, “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12). That likely refers to Timothy’s baptism. Witnesses were also essential to the process of identifying false confessors in Jesus’ instructions for church discipline: “Take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses” (Matt. 18:16).
This Sunday, on the basis of good evidence, let’s declare on earth what is true in heaven concerning these souls.
Third, we guard Christ’s name and one another—the what and the who of the gospel.
Our new Constitution puts a profound truth in simple terms: “The Members of this church possess the responsibility to guard its Gospel teaching and to guard one another as Gospel confessors.” This profound truth has practical formal and informal entailments.
Heritage has always been ordered so that the members make formal decisions regarding our church’s confession of faith—the what of the gospel. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus affirmed that profession as the foundation for the church he would build. About ten years ago the Elders proposed a handful of changes to our confession and the members accepted those changes by a vote. It makes sense that the congregation should bear this formal responsibility, as the Apostles held congregations responsible for the gospel they preached and professed (Gal. 1:6).
Informally, we have always taken care of one another—the who of the gospel. We do this whenever we speak the truth in love, encouraging and exhorting one another in Christ. This Sunday we do so formally together for the first time, making a decision together on who will bear the name of Jesus with us in this congregation. This is what Jesus means by his imagery of “binding” and “loosing.” Think, including and excluding, attaching and detaching, receiving and releasing. As an “elder-led congregational” church, this authority is now vested in our members.
How precious is the name of Jesus! That’s the measure of the preciousness of his people, for he puts his name upon them. How sacred, then, is our membership roll. There is no greater responsibility. Most of the time this will be a happy decision to receive new members.
But sometimes it will involve mourning as if for the death of a loved one (1 Cor. 5:2). This is the only response fitting when we exercise the keys of the kingdom by “loosing” a member through church discipline, excommunication being the last step in that process. In doing so we obey Matthew 18:15–20, as did the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:1–13. Difficult as it is, “loosing” a member is an act of loving guardianship: we love the unrepentant individual by not endorsing their self-deception (1 Cor. 5:5, 11); we love one another by protecting our church from the leaven of sin (1 Cor. 5:6); and we love our neighbors by not confusing the name of Jesus with a member who confesses Christ with their lips and denies him with their life (1 Cor. 5:1).
Given the stakes involved here (Jesus’ name) and the limitation of our knowledge as any one member, how can we do this in a unified way with confidence? Let’s consider now the process we—that is, the congregation—have put in place and what you as church members can expect from your elders. If we’re all doing our jobs, then there should be no surprises when we assemble to vote.
Fourth, we fulfill our biblical responsibilities with the help of our biblically appointed leaders.
If leaders don’t turn the keys on behalf of the church, where do leaders fit in this process? Let’s spend a little more time on this one.
Jesus said to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” But Peter is dead and there’s no basis in this text or any other for a succession of Peters (Popes!) who possess the keys of the kingdom of heaven. So, who holds the keys? I’ve assumed an answer in this article. It’s an answer that we argued for from Scripture in our second sermon, “The Keys and the Keepers.”
In the short, the church possesses the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Specifically, local churches.
Here’s the argument in two parts. First, in Matthew 18, Jesus uses the same imagery of binding and loosing to interpret what local churches do when through a process of church discipline. In other words, Jesus says to Peter, “I give you the keys of the kingdom,” but two chapters later, he teaches the church how to exercise them. Read Jesus’ instructions and keep track of who is doing what.
“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. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” —Matthew 18:15–19
There is a biblical order to this sensitive process. “The process moves from private to public and from individual to corporate when the person who has confessed Christ refuses to listen.” Our goal is the “spiritual restoration” of a brother or sister. But if unrepentance persists, the church agrees to treat them as Gentile or a tax collector. Notice that it is the church that does so. Elders are not even mentioned here. Thus, the process of “loosing” is fundamentally the responsibility of the congregation. So it is with “binding,” or receiving members.
A second argument for the congregation holding the keys comes from our New Testament letters. As we explored in our third sermon, “Turning the Keys Together,” the Apostles assumed congregational authority. In the same way that the Apostle Paul held the whole congregation accountable at the church at Galatia for the gospel they preached and believed—the what of the gospel—he put the onus on the whole congregation at Corinth to handle the discipline of an unrepentant member—the who of the gospel (Gal. 1:6; 1 Cor. 5:1–13). Then, when the excommunicated brother returned, Paul again put the responsibility of the church to receive him back. “I beg you to reaffirm your love for him . . .Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive” (2 Cor. 2:5–11, emphasis mine). Even as an apostle, Paul did not decide the matter for the church. Paul did not write to the elders to receive this man back. He wrote to the party with the proper biblical authority: the church at Corinth.
What then is the role of leaders?
We don’t see them mentioned in Jesus’ instructions for discipline in Matthew 18. It seems like a glaring omission given the prominent place that priests and prophets and kings played in story of God’s people to this point. To be sure, the church still has leaders, Elders who shepherd and oversee the flock. But Elders do not occupy the same role in relationship to the church that Israel’s leaders played in her life. Elders do not mediate God’s Word or presence or rule. Elders in the new covenant rather lead God’s people to fulfill her God-given role as a royal priesthood and holy nation. We are—all of us—a kingdom of priests, ambassadors of Christ’s kingdom on earth. Together, we bear responsibility for Jesus’ name in this place.
Here’s where leaders fit: as a local church under the authority of Jesus, we “recognize and install Elders who will teach [us] the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who will lead [us] to carry out [our] responsibilities under Christ.” By the structure of the Constitution we have adopted at Heritage we appoint biblically qualified Elders for the purpose of teaching the congregation to identify the true gospel and true gospel confessors. As part of this, we have outlined a process by which our Elders interview prospective members and recommend them to you.
This Sunday we as Elders conclude our part of the process you’ve entrusted to us when we recommend these individuals for a vote into membership. As a member joined to this body in support of your Elders, it is not necessary for you to know every applicant personally. By voting to receive a new member you agree with the Elders’ recommendation on the basis of the testimony we’ve published and the process we’ve undergone with them.
Fifth, we entrust some brothers and sisters to the care of other churches.
There are two ways we release members at Heritage. When necessary, we remove someone from our rolls as a matter of church discipline. After a process that involves witnesses and eventually the whole church, we agree to remove someone from our membership and treat them as an unbeliever.
We renew our agreement to this process every time we receive our Membership Covenant:
“I will endeavor to watch over others in brotherly love; to humbly give and receive admonishment lest I become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin; and to consider how to encourage others to love and good works (Heb. 3:13; 10:24). If I ever continue in my sin without biblical repentance, I implore this body to seek my spiritual restoration and purity (Matt. 18:15-20) and will submit to this process for my spiritual well-being.”
But what about those who are leaving our church for any number of other reasons? I quote our Membership Covenant on the matter of discipline in order to draw a contrast with every other kind of departure. This is important: we are not “loosing” them, marking them out of the kingdom. But we are releasing them from our church so that we no longer bear responsibility for one another. A brother or sister may leave because they are leaving the state. They may leave because they are marrying a believer from another church. Or for any number of providential or prudential reasons, they may see decide to join to another church. Sometimes these departures will be discouraging. At times, these departures are mixed with sin. But not all sin is disciplinable. So we joyfully release members to other churches when they leave to join a church that preaches the same gospel they professed with us.
Resignations hold not be a surprise: “Members are encouraged to speak with an Elder if ever they are considering resigning their membership.” And most of the time we should know what church that is. Our word choice indicates that this is not binding. But it should encourage confident and mutually edifying transitions to safe pasture: “Generally, a Member should wait to resign their membership at Heritage until they have become a member at the new church.”
We work with resigning members to time the vote for that kind of a hand-off of care. This should be normative as it best honors what we recite together from our Membership Covenant, “I will, when I move from this place, as soon as possible, unite with a church where I can carry out the articles of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.” To be “entrusted to the care of a specific church” is something we should want and work for where we can. At times we will not know the church but are willing to trust a departing member to seek safe pasture.
When you vote in these instances, you need not worry about knowing the details nor even agreeing that an individual should or should not have left our church. The question at hand is straightforward. With these votes “members decide that the individual leaves in good standing, agreeing with the Elders’ judgment that church discipline is not necessary.” In the case of those leaving the fold here, the Elders whom you have appointed have spoken with the departing member and recommend you receive their resignation. Put positively, now we get a public opportunity to say with one voice that this brother or sister leaves in good standing with us. That should make for healthier departures and the kind of good-bye that strengthens those going and those staying. For our relationship as church members ends as it began, with the gospel.
Sixth, we manifest Jesus’ power and presence among us.
Jesus has great encouragement for us as we carry out this sober responsibility, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20). Jesus wants us to know where he is when we gather as a congregation (which, by the way, is what he means by “two or three”) to exercise the power of the keys. He is powerfully among us.
Yes, he is powerfully among us even if our votes are not unanimous. When Paul appealed to the church at Corinth to receive a repentant brother back, he said, “this punishment by the majority is enough” (2 Cor. 2:6, emphasis mine). We should not be surprised in the years ahead if there are painful discipline decisions over which we are not all in agreement. But even then, the Lord Jesus is powerfully among us (Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 5:4).
Yes, insofar as the Son is omnipresent as God, the Lord Jesus is everywhere in the universe. Insofar as Jesus sent his Spirit within us, Jesus himself is with each Christian wherever we go. But he is with us in a special way when we gather as a local congregation to worship his name (1 Pet. 2:4–10) and to do the work of guarding this name through church membership (Matt. 18:20; see also 1 Cor. 5:3–5).
This is our sweet and sobering responsibility.
May the Lord bless this humble embassy of his heavenly kingdom.
