I’ll bet you’ve read this passage from Matthew 18. You may
have heard it preached or practiced.
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him
his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your
brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he
refuses to hear them, tell [it] to the church. But if he refuses even to hear
the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I
say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of
you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them
by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My
name, I am there in the midst of them.” - Matthew 18:15-20
I’ve had to walk through this with folks (on both ends of
it, actually). I’ve seen it up close, and I’ve seen the fruits of it up close.
And it’s made me think this through some. Did you know that
this paragraph is surrounded by paragraphs where Jesus is not actually speaking
literally? (Before: cut off your hand. After: forgive 70x70 and then the
parable of the talents.)
So there’s good reason to reconsider our normal practice of
ripping this paragraph out of its context in the rest of Matthew, out of its
context in a first-century agrarian society. There’s good reason to reconsider
our 21st century Information-Age literalist interpretation of this
passage.
So consider this alternative rendering of this passage. Think
of this as a cultural reference.
If your friend gets caught up in the stuff of their life, if
they forget who they are, go be with him (or her), remind them of who they are,
who God sees him to be, who you know they are. If he hears you, it’s all good.
But if he’s not able to hear you, gather some friends with
you and remind him how awesome he is. Remind him of who you’ve known him to be.
It’s likely he’d listen to a group of friends, if they’re people who he’s known
are for him.
But if he still can’t hear you, get him up in front of the
church. “Guys, this is Matthew. You all know how awesome Matthew is. Come on,
let’s lay hands on Matthew. Let’s remind Matt of who he is, cuz he’s had a hard
go for a while, and he needs our support!”
But if he is so messed up that they still can’t get past the
garbage in their life, then treat him like a tax collector.
How did Jesus treat tax collectors? (He’s our example, remember?)
He befriended them (Matthew 9:9), he brought them close to him, he put them on his ministry team (Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15), he trusted his reputation to him (the book of Matthew), he went out of his way to hang out with him (Luke 19:5).
He befriended them (Matthew 9:9), he brought them close to him, he put them on his ministry team (Matthew 10:3, Luke 6:15), he trusted his reputation to him (the book of Matthew), he went out of his way to hang out with him (Luke 19:5).
That’s how we treat people that have forgotten who they are
and gotten stuck in sin.
Go thou and do likewise.
