Healing Church Strife in the New Testament and Today: Beyond Matthew 18:15-17

By James Christensen and Dr. Thomas F. Johnson

When churches experience troubling conflicts, they are likely to be offered Matthew 18:15-17 as the only solution. This book opens our eyes to the rich variety of conflict solutions that are described throughout the New Testament. Healing Church Strife explores options for our time, and the reader receives practical suggestions that are biblically based.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Jan 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781498233958

James Christensen

James Christensen MSW, PhD, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), specializes in helping churches manage conflict. During the past fifteen years he has worked with congregations in northwest Washington, Alaska, and in Vienna, Austria. In addition, he trains pastors and other church leaders and consults with church judicatories on policies and practices. Currently he serves as Conflict Consultant for the Northwest Coast Presbytery.

Book preview

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Healing Church Strife in the 
New Testament and Today

— Beyond Matthew 18:15–17 —

James Christensen

and

Thomas F. Johnson

9478.png

Healing Church Strife in the New Testament and Today

Beyond Matthew 18:15–17

Copyright © 2015 James Christensen and Thomas F. Johnson. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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paperback isbn 13: 978-1-4982-3394-1

hardback isbn 13: 978-1-4982-3396-5

eisbn 13: 978-1-4982-3395-8

Manufactured in the U.S.A. 02/14/2017

Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2015 All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Preliminary Distinctions and Examples

Chapter 2: The Dictum

Chapter 3: Separation

Chapter 4: Avoidance

Chapter 5: Teaching and Mentoring

Chapter 6: Negotiation

Chapter 7: Official Church Action

Chapter 8: Practical Summary

Chapter 9: Conclusion

But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . for they said to you, In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts. It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.

Jude 17–23

Preface

Not long ago I hired a contractor to build a new deck. I sketched out what I had in mind, particularly a deck low to the ground so there would be no need for a railing. He took one look at my work and commented, You can draw anything, but that doesn’t mean you can build it.

Much has been written about how to deal with strife in today’s churches. There are many models and programs for doing so, and it is not our intention to add to that body of literature. There is also significant resistance to academic and professional ideas in this arena. That resistance takes shape as a retreat to simple principles, such as love one another, forgive one another, or as an appeal to apparently sufficient instructions such as Matthew 18:15–17.Both of these responses appeal to the New Testament, and that is what interests us enough to write this book. Having a quick sketch drawn from Scripture about what to do with church conflict is not the same as having a workable plan.

We began this project with a question: Did New Testament churches actually do what is prescribed in Matthew 18:15–17 and similar texts? We quickly discovered that they did not. This made us wonder, What did New Testament era churches do about strife? The primary purpose of this book is to answer that question.As we began to examine the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation, the great volume of conflict related information we found surprised us. Clearly, the common, simple appeals to Scripture had not gone far enough or deep enough. So, a second purpose of this book is to shed light on that information.

We identified and documented several strategies that New Testament churches used in dealing with conflict and with church trouble-makers. Their use in that ancient historical and cultural context does not mean, however, that they can be easily and effectively used in our contemporary context. So, the practical value of New Testament experiences with church conflict for our time needs further exploration. And that constitutes a third purpose of this book.

Have we covered this topic completely? Far from it! Thus, a fourth purpose of the book is to invite further inquiry and dialogue about what the New Testament actually describes and teaches about church strife.

Introduction

Representatives from two opposing groups were gathered in a church that was about to be split. A long period of preparation had preceded this meeting, and a careful process leading toward possible reconciliation was underway. Issues were identified, feelings were being shared and explored, and apologies were being offered and accepted. Hopes for a good outcome were rising. Then, out of the blue, someone brought up Matthew 18 : 15 – 17 , proclaiming that this was the biblical model that should be followed. That statement in that moment had the potential to derail a train that had already departed. The group was already moving forward by following an entirely different process. The appeal to Matthew 18 : 15 – 17 not only clashed with the immediate context, it also ignored the great weight of New Testament teaching about church conflict and how it might be treated. In studying what the Bible teaches about church strife, we use the terms, New Testament churches, the early Christian communities, and followers of Jesus, as inclusive phrases for the various forms of groups (most often ekklésiae ) and organizational structures portrayed in the New Testament, from the first disciples to fully developed churches with officers and procedures. We use the term strife to make a distinction between mere differences of opinion, which might be called conflicts, and stronger, more difficult, or more potentially destructive disputes.

Not every New Testament reference