Eat with them

Friday September 12th, Matthew 18: 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. 16 But 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.' 17 If 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. On the practical side…. If someone sins against you go and try to work it out, if that works, reconciliation happens. If it doesn’t work, according to Jewish law, take some others along so they can listen to both sides. Often times in the case of disputes, the truth resides not on one side or the other, but somewhere in the middle, an impartial group can help sort that out and reconciliation happens. If that doesn’t work, take it to the church and have the whole body of Christ work on getting things worked out. The goal is not vigilant justice, but reconciliatory justice, to restore the relationship between you, the other and the community. It that doesn’t work, treat them like a pagan or tax collector, you know, the ones Jesus ate with, forgave, restored and went to the cross for.