Over the last few years, beginning with the Catholic church priest sex-scandals and continuing through various denominational controversies, some Christians have asserted that all disputes between church members must stay within the confines of the local church. Children have been forced to face their adult abusers in front of church leaders, pastors have moved from church to church with the real reasons behind their terminations unreported to law enforcement, and women have had to give “testimony” of various kinds of abuse to groups of men who decide whether or not she is to be believed. Rather than addressing a particular instance or particular person, this article deals with the faulty theology behind non-reporting.
If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two of three witnesses every fact may be established. If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you. (Matthew 18:15–18, CSB)
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this? (1 Corinthians 5:1–2, CSB)
Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1–2, CSB)
We see in these verses not contradiction, but instruction based on sphere. It is not the responsibility of the government to define “sin.” That responsibility belongs to God. Nor is it the responsibility of the church—in the American context anyway—to define “crime.” Civil codes do that for us.
It is not a crime to be jealous; but it is a sin. It is not a crime to gossip; but it is a sin. It is not a crime to covet your neighbor’s car (as long as you don’t steal it); but it is a sin. Any sin between two brothers or sisters in a church—including that which is unrepented—falls under the purview of Matthew 18. Any sin that is unrepented and that the church is slow to judge is addressed by 1 Corinthians 5. Crimes, however, are the domain of civil authorities, per Romans 13.
A sin is not necessarily a crime—though it might be—and a crime is not necessarily a sin. Stealing is both a sin and a crime. In some countries reading your Bible might be a crime, but it is never a sin. God established authorities and responsibilities for each sphere.
The problem of believers addressing crimes within the context of the church.
Advising someone who has been raped, molested, or beaten—victims of illegal acts—not to report the crime to the authorities is a violation of Romans 13. All crime should be reported to the governing authorities. Failure to report, accessory after the fact, and mandatory reporting laws vary from state to state, but the principle is clear: crime should be reported. Sin is an ecclesial matter relating to church membership. Crime is not an ecclesial matter; crime is a violation of civil law. It is not up to a church’s leadership to decide whether a crime has been committed; it’s up to civil authority. Not to report is “resisting authority,” setting one’s self up for judgment.
If a chairman of deacons murdered his wife and successfully concealed it from the police, then the pastor found out the truth, should the pastor do nothing more than call a meeting of the other deacons and staff to rebuke the murderer? Should the pastor not report it to the authorities?
If a pastor takes money intended for the church or church-affiliated school and spends it on a vacation, should that pastor be fired? Yes. But not only that, he should be reported to the civil authorities. Misappropriation of funds is against the law. It can be a misdemeanor or a felony. The state has an interest because a person who abuses finances at a church might move along to steal money from the Red Cross or the county office. In Maryland a pastor and secretary were charged with theft and embezzlement. In New York a monsignor was both fired and sued. Each case involved misuse of church funds. The firing was the responsibility of the church; the lawsuit is the sphere of the state.
The state has an interest in seeing justice done. Frankly, the church should have the same desire.
In any case where a crime is committed in a local church (or by a church member outside the actual church framework), it is important the offender repents. This is unquestionable. Repentance, however, should be within both church and state. In the case of a crime, how can one be fully reconciled within the body of Christ if they are unwilling to face the justice the state requires? Repentance seeks to re-set all fractures, not only the churchly ones. Repentance can take place at an altar and from a court room, in a jail cell, or on a visitation day.
Peter makes it explicitly clear that punishing “those who do what is evil” is the responsibility of civil authorities:
Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. (1 Peter 2:13–14, CSB)
Notice the lack of addenda: “unless it happens in church” or “after the church deals with the evildoer.” The New Testament recognizes the distinction between what breaks fellowship in a church versus what breaks the law.
It is a troublesome theology that forbids reporting crime to law enforcement as it rejects the authority God has placed in the hands of government. Police officers, district attorneys, and judges are—when functioning properly—ministers of God, only somewhat different from the church council, the elders, or the deacons. When a church is denying justice to an aggrieved member, that church is not functioning properly, thus the government should fulfill the responsibility the church has shirked.
But, what about scripture forbidding lawsuits between believers?
A lengthy passage in 1 Corinthians is taken by some to mean believers should always work things out in church rather than taking our problems before secular courts:
If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Or don’t you now that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases? Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matter of this life? So if you have such matters, do you appoint as your judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame! Can it be there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers? Instead brothers goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers! As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? (6:1–7, CSB, emphasis mine)
The very clear problem with applying this text to a church situation where a youth has been molested by an adult, or a woman has been raped by a staff member, or a murder has been committed is this: those aren’t trivial matters. The Greek term (έλάχιστος, from μικρός from where we get micron) means least important, small, insignificant. Paul is not talking about potential felonies in First Corinthians 6. Rather, he addresses trivial matters: the non-return of a garden rake; where is the property line; whose chariot scraped whose in the parking lot; who took the Tupperware home from the fellowship dinner and intends to keep it?
Paul expected the grossly immature Corinthian believers to find at least one person in the church to resolve minor disputes rather than filing a lawsuit over every broken jar of fig preserves. So, he concludes, in “such matters” (insignificant issues) it is better to be wronged or cheated. Paul unequivocally does not say it’s better to be beaten, molested, or raped rather than go to court or call the police.
What about church and state separation?
Americans take pride in the distinction we make between the spheres of church and state. The government, we say, has no business interfering with the business of a church or an assembly of churches. The First Amendment forbids the establishment of a state church and guarantees the free exercise of religious Americans. This “separation,” as some call it, is not, nor has it ever been, absolute. In addition, Scripture makes it clear both church and state have roles in the lives of Christians. Both have authority—authority granted by God. There is not one god for church authority and one god for civil authority. There is one God with all authority and he delegates it as he wills.
(In cases where state law and God’s law may collide, God’s law must be chosen. But, there is an extreme and notable difference between reporting someone for reading their Bible and reporting a deacon who abuses his kids.)
Churches take heed. Disciples in our midst need to be formed spiritually. They need to grow; we all need to grow. We need to confront sin in ourselves and other members. We need to love and encourage to love and good works. We need to seek the fruit of righteousness and remove unrepentant evil. However, where a crime is involved, the fruit of righteousness is to report it to the governing authorities. It is not the role of a pastor or elder board to “investigate” an alleged molestation. It is their role to contact the authorities, then offer prayer, support, and biblical guidance to all involved. Such action recognizes both spheres, and it honors God.
