Evening

March 13

Matthew 18:15-17 ¹⁵"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

This is the only passage in the New Testament that tells how to resolve a conflict between brothers in Christ. If we would follow it carefully, we would resolve many conflicts before they reached the point of being irreparable. Step one: The one who is offended goes to the one that offended him, one on one. 90% of issues will be resolved there. Usually it is a misunderstanding or something that was done unintentionally. Do it quickly before bitterness takes root. Once you become embittered, no response will be sufficient to restore the relationship.

Step two: If there is no resolution or if the offending brother refuses to listen, then take along two or three witnesses. Ideally there should only be five people at the most that know about the problem. We get into trouble when we start telling others and forming groups to support one another's perception of what happened. Everyone wants support and sympathy, but the godly way is to keep those that know limited in number.

Finally if the brother refuses to listen, then take it to the church. Some interpret this to mean the elders of the congregation you attend. Others believe this means to bring it before the entire church body for resolution. If the brother refuses to listen to the church, (this assumes the church will be of one mind) treat him as a pagan or tax collector. This is one of Jesus' few teachings about the church. Jesus is referring to believers that gather to worship. It really did not exist at the time, so Jesus is looking into the future and specifically addressing a need for His followers in in fellowship with one another.

Then the question is how to treat a pagan or tax collector. Is Jesus saying how the Jews treated them or how He and His disciples did? One of them was a tax collector. Treat them as those in need of salvation, loving them, but not considering them a part of the body of the local church. That would still offer hope that things could be restored if they would repent.

Remember: Commit yourself to follow Jesus' conflict resolution pattern.