Church autonomy and church discipline

“Autonomy” means the right or condition of self-government or self-control. In Baptist ecclesiology, this principle and practice means that each local congregation is self-governing. A Baptist church recognizes no secular governmental control or religious denominational control over her faith and religious practice. A local congregation of baptized believers is independent of outside entities. However, she governed by her head and lawgiver, Jesus Christ, the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and the inspired word (the Bible, John 17:14) that he has given.

In some sense we should also see there is interdependence of local congregations co-labouring together with God – not a surrender of autonomy, but a similarity of goals and direction in following the same Head and believing the same Bible. (“in all churches” is a treasured phrase of Paul.) One area in which we see this is church discipline. Each local congregation, and not another, exercises discipline over her members. But biblical church discipline doesn’t work well when congregations refuse to recognize the biblical disciplinary work of other churches. 

If an excluded church member can simply go down the road and join another church of like faith and order, then discipline breaks down. An autonomous church may make a mistake in church discipline. Another autonomous church is not helplessly bound by the other church’s act. However, if the first church acted biblically, it is biblical to recognize the discipline of that church. If that excluded member wants to join the church down the road, the church down the road should send them back home to repent, be restored, and repair the bond of fellowship with the church of their membership. Anything less is a flaunting of the authority of the head that bought them and the word that taught them. Some churches an pastors take autonomy to the extreme, refusing to work together with other churches of like faith and order to maintain a pure witness of the gospel.

Often churches are too indifferent to doctrine and too eager to obtain new members by whatever method available to them. A church should not be hasty to encourage a prospective member coming from a nearby church of faith and order. Why are they coming? Are they moving closer to your local congregation, are they disgruntled, are they leaving a mess in their home church, or perhaps fleeing church discipline? Let not numbers glaze our eyes from truth.

The principle of local church autonomy must operate consistently and distinctly within biblical theology and ecclesiology. Biblical church autonomy allows us to operate independently while also cooperating in matters of truth with other churches.