To Bind OR To Loose?

To bind or to loose? Is that even the question?

Twice in Matthew, Jesus says to Peter and the disciples, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (16:19 & 18:18) What authority is Jesus giving to the church through this statement?

Our sinful nature clouds how we answer that question and how we understand Jesus’ message. We have a desperate need to see the world from a dualistic (good/bad, righteous/evil) standpoint. Because of this, we assume that there must be good people and bad people in the world – those who are in and those who are out – those who are bound and those who are loosed.

Then in an act of hubris reminiscent of Adam, we believe God has given us the license to determine who falls in those groups. We believe we have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and are qualified to make some ultimate decisions for God.

And so we begin to pursue practices like shunning and excommunication and casting-out. We decide who to bind to the church and assure ourselves that those people have a place in heaven – if they stay on our good side. We decide who to kick out and assure ourselves that we won’t have to sit at table with those people in the life to come.

Pretty scary, isn’t it. Not only does it reek of sin and hubris, it's a false interpretation of Jesus’ word to the church.

The Greek word for loosing is translated as to “set free” or to “release” – as in captives. When it is translated that way, it gives the lie to our interpretation. You can’t set someone free from what holds them captive while cursing them, can you?

Jesus' exhortation isn’t about loving or hating, embracing or castigating. It's about loving and setting free, embracing and releasing from burden. The church is assured that those whom we love will be loved in heaven and those whom we set free from their bonds, will be set free in heaven. Win/win written theologically.

And our better selves have known it all along. It’s been a part of our church life from the beginning. We see it in our hymns. We can sing “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” (binding) and “Go Down Moses” (loosing) with the same joy and devotion. We can even sing about binding and loosing in the same hymn – Arise, Your Light Is Come!

Verse 2 is all about loosing:

Fling wide the prison door; proclaim the captives liberty, good tidings to the poor.

Verse 3 is all about binding:

All you in sorrow born, bind up the broken-hearted ones and comfort those who mourn.

In fact, the very foundation of the church proclaims that binding and loosing are both joyous parts of the Good News. In our baptism we were engrafted to the Body of Christ (bound) and freed from our sin (loosed).

The church is not asked to view the world from a dualistic point of view and pick the winners and losers. The church is called to preach the Good News and to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are called to bind in love and to loose in love. There is no other way.

To act otherwise – to believe Peter and the disciples (and the church) were given a command to harm and to hurt – to believe we get to choose winners and losers – puts us in the ridiculous position of also having to choose which aspect of our baptism we consider to be a curse.