Luke 18:1-14; Matthew 19:1-15; Mark 10:1-16; Luke 18:15-17; Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30; Matthew 20:1-16; John 10:22-42; John 11

During this time in Jesus’ ministry, he teaches on a variety of crucial subjects for His disciples and people in general. On topics ranging from thankfulness to God eclipsing our happiness for what happened (the ten lepers) to marriage, divorce and remarriage from God’s perspective, Jesus nourishes our hunger for practical knowledge. Even in His loving confrontation of the wealthy young man seeking justification, Jesus teaches all of us about His priorities versus our own. Good practical information for kingdom living.

Presenting Himself as the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Door to the Sheepfold and the Light of the World, Jesus guides us in our thinking and retrains our thinking so our lives will change. In the Parable of the laborers in the fields, he challenges us to not concern ourselves with comparisons about how long we are faithful or how much work we do. True perspective comes when we witness the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. This is “big picture stuff” that should simply make us rejoice in what Jesus has accomplished for mankind.

Tucked away neatly in the narratives is one of the most crucial teachings on living together in harmony in the Body of Christ. This teaching is anchored by, perhaps, the most consistently taken out of context statement of Jesus. And, taken together as Jesus presented it, may be the most consistently underused and under obeyed teaching in the church today.

Conflict resolution.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Matthew 18:15-20

Folks usually take the last verse and say, “You see, when we get together as the church, even just two or three of us, Jesus is here with us.” While that is certainly true of the Savior who will never leave us of forsake us, it actually has nothing to do with this teaching. Consider that the overall context is God’s desire to forgive and the need for us to forgive. The immediate context is conflict resolution done Jesus’ way.

It is frustratingly simple and shamefully ignored. A problem arises … two Christians with the heart and mind of Christ should be able to address it quietly between themselves without anyone else knowing anything is amiss. If, perchance, one of them is unwilling to conclude the matter in the manner proscribed by Jesus, then get a witness or two together and quietly return to the brother and re-address the matter with the objective of resolving things lovingly and with no further ado. The foundation of Jesus’ approach is rooted in the Law and God’s admonition that by the word of two or three witnesses the facts of a case are established sufficiently for judgment. If this fails, then the drastic step of treating the offender as a “tax-collector and a Gentile” must be taken for the sake of the body. Some call this “disfellowshipping”.

God’s objective is peaceful and harmonious conflict resolution. This only flows from godly people doing things God’s way. As such, they “gather” in the “name of Jesus”, since it is by His authority these things are being done. By doing things His way, he puts His divine stamp of approval on the results.

What percentage of the time does this really occur? Theoretically, we could not possibly know, since doing things Jesus’ way would conclude most matters without anyone knowing what happened except the two involved. Practical experience shows that the first step usually involves gossip. Folks “go to” the wrong person first and trouble brews. I would dare say that most church conflict arises avoidably from ignoring this fundamental teaching of Jesus.

That means, church politics and unscriptural conflict resolution and gossip are facets of church life that are NOT done “in Jesus’ name”. Likewise, covetousness, an unforgiving spirit, worldly views on marriage and ungratefulness are not done in the name of Jesus. Folks seem to get that, even while continuing to do it. Why are we so accepting of human alternatives to the only divinely given and sanctioned process for resolving conflict between brothers? Within congregations families draw lines, factions thrive and bitterness takes root. Some churches split.

The unavoidable conclusion of this matter, then, is such behavior leaves two or three or more, standing alone without Jesus in their midst.

Consider His nature.  Consider His ways.  Strive to love Him more!