I checked out the link to the GCC page and was surprised to see this:
"If an individual believes that his or her church is not complying with Biblical standards, what is that individual to do? Our policy is that a church member should work through the Matthew 18:15-17 process, presenting his or her concerns to a pastor in the church and then, if not satisfied, to the board of that church. If still not satisfied, that individual has the option to contact a regional or national office of Great Commission Churches."
For reference, here is Matthew 18: 15-17:
“If your brother or sister
sins, go and point out their fault,
just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen,
take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen,
tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector."
For starters, Matthew 18 is referring to SIN, not doctrinal error. But, let's play along and assume a pastor was guilty of false teaching and you were going to apply Matthew 18: 15-17 to the situation.
Here is what you would do:
1. You would go to the pastor. If that doesn't work,
2. You would take one or two others. If that doesn't work,
3. Tell it to the Church. Greek: ekklesia (See note below about the translation of ekklesia. Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating ekklesia as "congregation" rather than "church leaders/priests")
Now, let's look at GCC's suggested Matthew 18 pathway.
1. Go to the pastor. So far, so good.
2. Go to the board of the church. Um, this is not what Matthew 18 says. It could be the board, I guess. Or just one or two friends.
3. Contact the regional or national board of Great Commission Churches. No, no, no, no, no. THE REGIONAL OR NATIONAL BOARD OF GREAT COMMISSION CHURCHES IS NOT THE CHURCH. ALERT. ALERT. ALERT. THE REGIONAL OR NATIONAL BOART OF GREAT COMMISSION CHURCHES IS NOT THE CHURCH.
Sorry I yelled...at least I didn't go with bold in addition to all caps.
In the GCC scenario, the Church in Matthew 18 is the Board of Great Commission Churches.
No, Great Commission Churches, the church is the church. The regional or national board is not the church.
It is telling that in Great Commission Churches there is no place for the congregation.
I am reminded in all of this about William Tyndale who took on the wrath of the Catholic Church for daring to translate ekklesia as the congregation and not the church leaders. Here is Tyndale's story if you are interested.
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/always-singing-one-note-a-vernacular-bibleAn excerpt:
"But there were deeper reasons why the church opposed the English Bible: one doctrinal and one ecclesiastical. The church realized that they would not be able to sustain certain doctrines biblically because the people would see that they are not in the Bible.
And the church realized that their power and control over the people, and even over the state, would be lost if certain doctrines were exposed as unbiblical—especially the priesthood and purgatory and penance.
Thomas More’s criticism of Tyndale boils down mainly to the way Tyndale translated five words. He translated presbuteros as elder instead of priest.
He translated ekklesia as congregation instead of church. He translated metanoeo as repent instead of do penance. He translated exomologeo as acknowledge or admit instead of confess. And he translated agape as love rather than charity.
