Matthew 18:15-17

Matthew 18:15-17

And if your brother should sin, go.  Rebuke him between you and him only.  If he should hear you, you have gained your brother as an investment to your activity.  But if he should not hear, bring along one or two with you in addition in order that upon the mouth of two or three witnesses every word should be set in place.  And if he should refuse to listen to them, speak it to the church.  And if he should also refuse to listen to the church, be to him as the Gentiles and the tax collectors.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

This section of scripture is important, and the verb tenses help to bring this out.  There are a bunch of imperative verbs in this passage: go, rebuke, bring along, speak, and be.  In fact, every phrase that Jesus speaks in this passage that is teacher for the disciples has imperatives in it.  I think there is a neat grammatical point here.  If we see our brother in sin, we need to come against it. Combating sin in our community isn’t a suggestion or an optional activity.  Jesus is commanding us to root out sins among our spiritual family.  If we truly love our spiritual family, then we should care that they sin.

Are you good at speaking with people you care about regarding their sin?  Why does relationship make this conversation easier?  Why does relationship make this conversation more difficult?

Second Thought:

There is a very important progression to follow within Jesus’ advice, and truly it is not often followed even among Christians.  Notice what Jesus says.  If you see someone in your spiritual family sin, go just between you and them.  Talk to them about it.  Listen to them.  Keep it between the two of you.  Don’t gossip about it with other people while you figure out what to do.  But if the person doesn’t listen, take another person or two.  Then Jesus says that if the person doesn’t listen to “them.”  That’s important.  Jesus isn’t saying to go get more people so you can repeat the argument with witnesses.  Jesus is saying that you should get someone else who might have a different approach to the issue and have them try to explain what is going on.  Then Jesus says to bring the issue before the church.  So many people think that this is just permission for them to get an ever-increasing circle of people behind their actions.  This is not it at all.  Jesus is trying to broaden the number of people who understand what is happening while at the same time giving other people the opportunity to speak into the situation.  It’s not an excuse for a person to continually berate someone else with increasing support.  It is an opportunity for many people to speak into the life of someone who is going down the wrong path.

Have you ever experienced a time when it felt like someone who had something against you was just getting support behind them instead of trying to invite multiple perspectives into the conversation?  Why do you think that it is important for conflict resolution to be about more than just one person’s axe to grind against another person?

Third Thought:

In the end, Jesus says that we are to treat the one who doesn’t listen to correction as the Gentiles and the tax collectors.  But remember how God treated the Gentiles and tax collectors.  He went among the tax collectors, ate dinner with them, and invited one into discipleship.  Regarding the disciples, He came and performed many miracles in their presence and even sent His disciples and especially Paul into them to invite them into relationship with Him.  God loves the Gentiles and tax collectors.  Jesus isn’t giving us permission to be rude to people who don’t listen.  God is giving us permission to love them in a way that doesn’t open ourselves up to the corruption of sin.

Why is it important to remember that God loves all people – even those who hate Him?  Is this an easy or difficult part of God for you to imitate?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 18:18-20