Tuesday, April 11, 2006

SQUARE ONE

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. - Jesus
(Matthew 18:15-17)


Just prior to the verses above, Jesus tells his first century audience of a shepherd, who against logic, leaves ninety-nine steady, still, and behaved sheep in order to recover and restore one, solitary, unruly fool to the flock. He remains in this same reconciliatory vein as we go on to encounter the verses above.

Most teachings I have heard from verses 15 to 17 are always with regard to church protocol concerning the interplay between the offender and the offended within a local assembly. First, go it one-on-one, and if that doesn’t work, gather witnesses. And again, if even that fails to convict the alleged offender, bring him before the general congregation, where if he still won’t “fess-up,” he is to be cast out, being branded as an unbelieving, traitorous thief who has no place in the holy assembly of the saints. This sounds like a justified and even pious interpretation; defending the purity of a local assembly. But it is wrong and misses the point to the spiritual and loving bottom-line of Jesus’ teaching.

As with Jesus’ precedent example of the illogical shepherd, he continues with another example of reconciliation between his lambs. The key to seeing this is the last bit of verse 17, where Jesus says that after all attempts at orderly justice have failed, we are to go back to square one with our offender and treat him as someone who does not know the love of God; a heathen and a publican. We are to forgive them of their offenses; absorbing the offense for the greater good of reconciliation amongst the members of the flock.

I know that for some of you, this interpretation concerning the treatment of heathens and publicans is shocking. What is truly shocking, however, is that we, as messengers of peace, would consider treating unbelievers and even thieves any other way than to administer reconciliation to them!

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation(2 Corinthians 5:19). “

Speaking reconciliation is our business. It is the only word we have been given for this world. But too often, we set that word aside in order to speak about being caught away, morality, tithing, and submission to contrived authorities; trying to pass these off as having something to do with our Father’s business!

Our Father’s business is clear and singular. He was in Christ, reconciling the world back to Himself. This makes our business clear; to spread the word concerning our Father’s work, which was to reconcile all things, people, relationships, races, religions, and realms to Himself in the person of Christ Jesus. And if He could do all that, it will surely be required of us to be of the same, self-sacrificing sentiment by which we take a stand against fragmentation in the house of God by absorbing offenses and reconciling the offenders.