Devotional Thoughts: what's this binding and loosing stuff?

Am looking at Matthew 18:15-20.

Take a guess: how many times does the word "church" show up in the Gospels?

Two.

Surprised?

The word "church" appears in Matthew 16:18:
"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

and Matthew 18:17:
"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."

Both passages also make reference to the idea of:
whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19 and 18:18).

When the church is operating in the will of God, it is powerful. The church exists in the earthly realm and its binding/loosing power reflects what is in heaven (the realm of God). It makes me think of the part in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10) that says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Thus, to some extent, the church can do the will of heaven on earth!

When reading the Bible, context is important. In other words, what else is being said in and around the verse that is catching your eye?

In this case the binding/loosing appears in three contexts:

(1) Proclamation of Christ and the Kingdom (Matthew 16:13-19)

Do our churches do this? When you look at what your church and my church is doing, do we think Jesus would be doing the same thing? When the preacher steps up to the podium, is Jesus uplifted? Is the Bible opened?

When Jesus is at the center of our church, there is power.

(2) Winning a person back from sin (Matthew 18:15-17)

The church is a place to worship God and uplift Jesus. The church is also a training center to send us into the world to be ambassadors for Jesus to proclaim the truth of God and the hope He has for us. The church is also a hospital for the broken people of the world where needs of ALL types are met. And one big need is that we need correction when we sin. Do our churches take a stand for what is right and wrong? And do we lovingly receive the person who has sinned and knows it and seeks restoration?

(3) Prayer (Matthew 18:19-20)

Finally, prayer. If two or more gather in Christ, there is a community where God's power can be unleashed.

When we are alone, it is easy to get discouraged. When we are alone, it is easy to get deceived. But in community, we can better grasp the wisdom of God and we can better pray for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.