[ZNPaaneah]

This word by the Lord is the first mention and is the blueprint. If the boundary of a city was part of the vision it seems it would be here. Instead Jesus makes it very clear that you need a bare minimum of two or three. These two or three can be "wherever". They also have the promise to "bind and loose" and that "anything they ask will be done" provided they are "meeting in the Lord's name". For example the Apostle Paul instructing the church to excommunicate the evil brother, Martin Luther nailing his 95 points to the door, etc.

Two or three would be all it would take to excommunicate someone from the LSM office, or to ban them from a building owned by them, etc. We can understand that as few as two or three could have authority here on Earth over something. So the Lord's word is that "what they bind on Earth". That is their authority, some part of the Earth. What they bind on Earth will be what is bound in Heaven. Jesus doesn't say they have authority to bind in heaven, only that if they are one with the Lord in this decision (meeting in His person and work) that the kingdom of heaven will be one with their decision. He also tells them that they need to "tell it to the church and if he refuses to hear the church". I believe this has to refer to the kingdom of the heaven.

If I am offended with a brother, say PL, I can sue him, I can take him to criminal court, I can get a legal judgment that prevents him from coming within a few hundred yards of my property, etc. There are many ways that two or three could "bind an evil brother here on Earth".

But, where I differ with Witness Lee is interpreting "tell it to the church" as being a local church defined by the boundary of a city. For example, suppose I tell it to the church in Houston. How exactly do I do this? There is absolutely no basis to say that "telling it to the church" should be interpreted as having a private meeting with two or three elders. So maybe, two or three of us come from Anaheim and announce in the Lord's table what took place, my efforts to reconcile, and why I am binding PL.

You may claim, as Ray and Benson did, that this is a "local matter" and should be announced in Anaheim. But why? I meet in Houston. I was sent several times from Houston to Anaheim on behalf of the LSM to deliver printed materials. A very large number of saints in Houston were serving LSM. Why does this not concern them? One of the sisters abused by PL was sent to Houston. PL was the President of LSM, why isn't this a concern to all serving LSM?

OK, so in my case, I stand up in the Lord's table, and "tell it to the church". But we all know we often had visitors from other localities. We also know that many saints who used to live in Houston have moved to other localities and this would be big news that would spread. People would get home and make phone calls. (What happened in Anaheim was heard among the entire Lord's Recovery. I heard of it when I was in Taipei.) Why doesn't that count as "tell it to the church"? Surely, if you equate "tell it to the church" with the person being bound "in the kingdom of heaven" then how could you say that this is a local matter? So I do not see any limitation at all when the Lord says "tell it to the church". You could speak to saints in Texas, New York and California. Why not? There is nothing in Matt 18 that suggests any boundary or limitation to the term "church". When Titus Chu was excommunicated the Blendeds wrote an open letter to the church. This included every one associated with the Local church, not just in a single locality.

Therefore I do not interpret "tell it to the church" as referring to a single locality defined by the boundary of that city. I do not see any reference at all to suggest "tell it to the church" equals "tell it to the elders". So I don't see any requirement for some kind of "approved elders". The only indication of a prerequisite or requirement is that they make this decision "in the Lord's name". When Titus, or Max, or the Sister's rebellion were being disciplined an explanation was given to the saints. In my opinion none of these explanations met this standard of "being in the name of the Lord". The church in Houston is not the 200 saints that meet on Windswept, but rather every believer in the city. Will every genuine believer "amen" the excommunication of PL? That is the standard? Will every genuine believer "amen" the excommunication of Titus, or Max, or the Sister's? That is the standard.