A Simple Process

            “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”  (Matthew 18:15-17)

 

          Several words in today’s passage can be problematic. The first is “church.”  The Church didn’t exist formally when Jesus said these words. Synagogues did, but that has its own word. The Greek word transliterated is ecclesia, which initially referred to a civil assembly at which decisions were made and legal matters addressed. It might be considered part way between a city council meeting and a small claims court. In other words, this is a general principle, not just a “church” principle. We’ll come back to this after I deal with the other words.

          The next word(s) are brother or sister. In Greek, the term used is transliterated adelphos. Think Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Adelphos refers to someone who is liked, and generally to a sibling, but Jesus made it clear that He considered relationships to be a bit vague. One’s neighbor was effectively anyone who needed our help, according to the story of the Good Samaritan. An adelphos then could be anyone with whom we have a close relationship. It includes our brothers and sisters within the assembly of believers, but it’s not necessarily limited to that. In other words, this is a general principle, not just a “church” principle.

          That principle works like this: If someone close to you sins, you privately point out their fault to them. If they don’t listen, you take one or two others with you to address the issue with the brother or sister. My suggestion is to choose the one or two carefully. Taking your best friends, who always take your side or don’t like your brother or sister isn’t wise. Better that you take people your sibling likes or respects. If your brother or sister still won’t listen, then (and only then)  do you take it to the assembly for what amounts to a formal trial, and you take the one or two with you, so that they can bear witness to what has happened and who said what. And if, after all that, the brother or sister won’t listen, you’re to treat them as a tax collector or a pagan – in other words, avoid them.

          Think about this process. It’s simple. It’s direct. It’s proactive. And it would eliminate a lot of drama and anxiety in our lives.