The Practice of Matt 18:15-20 and the Issue of Power (post 3)

The Weaponizing of it by Leaders to Abuse Power, and what to do about it.

This is the third of four (or possibly more) posts on the practice of reconciliation as described by Jesus in Matt 18:15-20. In previous posts, I’ve been describing both the practice and its dangers with the backdrop in view that many have called for either the limiting of this practice or the canceling of it in churches. It is easy to see why: there have been myriad of leadership abuse scandals in churches nationwide and this practice has been used by abusers to assert their power over the (accusations that come from their) abused.

Nevertheless, even within this backdrop, I’ve been pushing for a reclaiming of this practice. A resetting of it. A teaching and guiding of it that reclaims its inherent purpose and process. And so I’ve been seeking an imagination for what Jesus is inviting us into as a core practice of our way of life together. I suggest that this practice can not only be reclaimed away from its abuse by the abuser, it can itself undercut the worldly power of the abuser, and in the process transform the church, heal the abused, and perhaps, with cooperation, transform the abuser. With proper protections in place, with a teaching of what Jesus invites us into, with a proclaiming of what Jesus has made possible in our conflicts and brokenness, I am suggesting we can reclaim this practice and its essence for a miraculous shaping of the Christian life, our communities and churches?

To this end, here’s one more insight into reclaiming this practice: the practice of reconciliation requires the continual exposure of worldly power and the submission to the power/presence of another kind, that of Jesus Christ in our midst.

All Practices (of the church) Are Corruptible

First, let’s acknowledge that all Christian practices, from the Eucharist to Divine Healing, are corruptible, open to abuse of power, when led by human beings. The question is: does this mean we discard/limit the practice or reform it?

Lauren Winner, in her 2018 book titled The Dangers of Christian Practice, engages with the theological trajectories of Hauerwas, MacIntyre, et. al. who focus strongly on “practices” as the shaping force of ecclesiology and Christian ethics (I confess that I have been one under the strong influences of this group). She makes the case that “characteristic damage” is inherent to the practices of the church. In other words, it is in the very nature of the practices of the church that they are prone to deformation, to become the instruments of corruption, for they are practices given in human form to be exercised by humans.

She gives several examples of this happening. For instance, fallenness can be seen in the way the Eucharist funded violence against Jews in the host desecration pogroms of the late Middle Ages. Likewise, fallenness can be seen in the way intercessory prayer journals were used by slave-owning women of the antebellum South to justify and sanctify their owning and enslaving of Black persons. These practices, and the many more core practices of our faith, have been and will continue to be prone to human corruption.

Winner’s solution however is not to cancel them or limit them. She argues for “depristinating” these practices, in her terms. Let us become aware of the corruptibility of these practices, recognizing these practices are not pristine in themselves, but in need of regular repentance, grace and reform. This kind of “depristination” is necessary and goes hand in hand with their regular practice. In the process, this kind of revealing and repentance becomes part of the way we practice. And the practices, though flawed, remain good gifts given to us by a gracious God for our transformation.

Winner’s work on the practices is important. Faced with the corruption of the practices, and the harm done in their name, she does not rush to cancel them or remove them from the life of the church. Instead she admits their vulnerability to corruption and urges us to persevere on with humility, ever exposing the corruption, seeking faithfulness to their intent.

But What About the Power?

But what Winner misses in The Dangers of Christian Practice is an issue near and dear to my own work: the issue of power. For it seems that central to the practice of reconciliation, the eucharist, preaching gospel and all the practices, is the laying down of worldly power for submission to His power at work in these practices.

Eucharist demands we sit at a table, that we become mutual with one another, laying down the presumption of worldly power. We receive, never take. And the presider must go first in submission to the King (Mark 10:44). Or else all stops there. It is not inconsequential that Jesus washes the feet of the disciples at the inauguration of the Table.

Likewise we come to the practice of reconciliation “in his name” v.20, under His authority and presence (“there am I in the midst” 20) and in this His power is unleashed (what is bound on earth is bound in heaven … v. 18). We must give up worldly power and submit one to another under His reign.

In the same way, proclaiming gospel (preaching) demands giving up worldly power that His presence might become manifest (1 Cor 2). The very core of this practice, as with all of the practices, is the practice of giving up worldly power and submitting one to another to the presence of Christ among us. (I go into great length on the nature of this posture, the giving up of worldly power in submission to this space of Christ’s power in all the core practices of the Christian faith, in Faithful Presence pp.37-38).

What then seems important to recognize, is that reconciliation is a practice which at its core, in the very practicing of it, requires the giving up of worldly power. Far from perpetuating it, it requires the giving up of it. Indeed, it reveals the one who refuses to give up worldly power.

There’s a long history of the core practices of the Christian faith being abused by the ones in authority. Many medieval Catholic clerics famously abused the eucharist to pressure communicants to buy indulgences. Many faith healers have promised divine healing, as if it were their power, in order to increase their fame and raise bigger offerings. Many a preacher has become abusive in the pulpit to further his/her own agenda. In each case there was an abuse of power, a taking control of the practice for human gain or fame. Still, no one argues we should give up these practices (although some have changed them so much – denying the real presence - that it changed the practice itself and it’s ability to dethrone worldly power). We do not discard these practices. We reclaim them.

The issue of power then is central to reconciliation. When exercised in line with the purposes and instructions of Jesus, this practice calls for each party to lay down worldly power, one to another unto Christ, and thereby make space for God’s power to work among us in and through Jesus. Indeed, when done safely and humbly, this practice exposes worldly power. The one stuck controlling, holding onto control, with a refusal to listen and lay down power, is exposed.

And so the question becomes, will we allow this practice to be torpedoed by worldly power? Given in and cancel it or limit it. Or will we exercise this practice first and foremost as submission to God’s power at work among us in and through Jesus? Will we give up worldy power and submit to the one who promises to be “in the midst” – leaders go first. These are the questions brought to every conflictual encounter, and the demand to give up worldly power and submit to Jesus is always laid upon the leader first, and exposes him/her as one who will follow Christ or the world.

In the next post, I wish to explore the way the practice of “mutual submission” embodies a totally different kind of power and leadership around the practice of reconciliation. I also want to explore how the NT church of Paul and Acts expands the practice of reconciliation into all areas of our lives. As such, instead of limiting this practice (as some scholars propose), it should become our witness to the world in all the spaces of our lives.

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