Author: missionspaul

So what happens then? We spend lots of time in conflict management, we deal with the sinner in accordance to how Christ teaches us, we ‘loose them on earth’ meaning we declare they are forgiven and we bring them back into the community of the church. What happens if that person goes and sins all over again?

Look at these verses:

This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent.” (Amos 1:3)

This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent.” (Amos 2:6)

“God does all these things to a person—twice, even three times—to turn them back from the pit that the light of life may shine on them.” (Job 33:29-30)

There we have it, on the 4^th time the sinner is not repentant!

So magnanimous Peter doubles what every Jew holds to and chooses the perfect number!

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18 v 19-20)

Jesus says there is no number, don’t even keep a record of how many times.

Aren’t we relieved for ourselves that God doesn’t keep count?!

This last week I sat with a Pastor and his leadership team as they discussed a plan of action regarding conflict with a small group of people within the church. I am often in this situation. It isn’t because the church in the UK is in a poor state it is simply because where people gather conflict will emerge sooner or later.

Into the context of a community of disciples, the church, now instructed in how to manage conflict Jesus says these 2 sentences that are often quoted at badly attended prayer meetings!

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18 v 19-20)

What do we know so far?

Jesus has been describing us, the church, where we are going to great lengths to preserve mutuality (v1-5); being careful how we act or speak so as not to cause hurtful stumbling (v6-9); caring for those who are the least (v10-14); restoration of those who fail (v12-17) and total forgiveness (v21-35). This is the binding (declaring guilty) and loosing (declaring them forgiven) of heaven. These are the values of Christ’s community that sets itself apart from all other communities and that shares in the culture of heaven?

Even as I write that last paragraph again I sense Christ’s presence on the church who practice this.

This Sunday I will be in a church service and we will know we are in the presence of Christ, we will experience Him in worship and during the preaching of His word, in prayer and as we listen to the testimony of someone giving thanks to God. But His presence is not just with us then but also when two or three people are gathering to bring correction of a wayward brother or sister with the aim of forgiveness and restoration.

In the Jewish law (Deuteronomy 17 and 19) two or three witnesses were needed to establish a case in their court of law. Jesus says as you establish what has happened in the conflict and begin to establish peace then He is with us.

This is not about prayer but His presence in church conflict management.

The presence of God is here in our difficulties and the emotional draining moments of confrontation.

When trying to bring a balanced judgment He is there.

When you are trying to find the right words so as not to cause further hurt He is there.

When we are focusing on the ‘little ones’ in their vulnerable, marginalised state, He is there.

When we are bringing forgiveness to those who need it He is there.

And even when the person resists and refuses to listen to the group of believers and walks away from the church carrying their unchanging sinful life He is there.

How we are indebted to Matthew’s gospel that reveals all the incredible miracles and extraordinary events where the presence of Christ obviously is but also reveals that in the ordinary and the painful moments of church conflict He never leaves us. Matthew ends his gospel as we know by telling us that Jesus will be with us to the end of the age.

In the context of conflict within the community we come to these well-known and often misused words:

“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. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have beenloosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18 v 17-18)

It is identical to the words given to Peter in Matthew 16: 19, “… whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” but here Jesus is speaking to the community of believers not to just one leading disciple. It is also similar to John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

These words are disturbing especially to the church in the West where our faith is wrapped in individual autonomous lifestyle and we are stripped from the power of community even though the world is searching for it. The world steps into the church with its desire for connection and relationship and finds a church that is fighting and so leaves. Conflict will ever be before us but the church needs to be able to manage it far better in order to see it flourish.

Unfortunately the church has always battled with its papal leaderships excommunicating members for all kinds of reasons and using these verses to back their actions. Thankfully churches do not practice swift excommunication these days, but is there a place for it?

Remember the Apostle Paul who declared that the man in the church at Corinth having an incestuous affair with his step-mother be removed from the community? He did it for the credibility of the community but also the purpose that the man may realise his sin and repent and be saved. (1 Corinthians 5) So there is a time and place isn’t there? On the subject of sex, all forms of abusiveness should be got rid of, we are in times when shamefully Pastors are being outed for their abuses of the innocents and rightly so!

However you can always find a small group within a community who regularly sharpen their knives to oust the ‘sinner’, demanding their Pastor to be more decisive and purge the evil from among them. After all, Israel didn’t remove their evil tribes and those people led to the nation’s downfall. But how about the ‘sinner’ the ‘little one’ is preserved and forgiven and restored and the knife-sharpening crew are purged?

I don’t think Jesus is giving more power to the elbow of the hierarchy of church leaderships. He seems to be focused throughout on the ‘little ones’, those at the bottom of the pack, the marginalised, those who cannot stand up for themselves against the mighty. We have read how he warns us not to cause them to stumble (v6); to leave the 99 and chase after the 1 little one (v12) and to call them ‘brother or sister’ (v15); and to go to great lengths to restore them and if that is not possible then to treat them as unsaved (v15-17), in order to seek for their salvation and we will read about forgiveness without limit (v21-35). This is the binding (proclaiming the person guilty) and the loosing (proclaiming them forgiven) the church battles for.

So perhaps this text is about the values of the community. Each member going to great lengths to preserve mutuality (v1-5); being careful how we act or speak so as not to cause hurtful stumbling (v6-9); caring for those who are the least (v10-14); restoration of those who fail (v12-17) and total forgiveness (v21-35). Is this the binding and loosing of heaven? Are these the values of Christ’s community that sets itself apart from all other communities and that shares in the culture of heaven?

There are times when disciples fall away from the church for all kinds of reasons and often it is too late because they had not drawn into their lives proper accountability partners to help them from falling. Jesus has something to say about this:

“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 v 15-17)

In some translations such as KJV and the ESV they have the words, ‘if your brother or sister sins against you’. The ‘little ones’ are now ‘brother or sister’, members of your community and Jesus has in mind the ‘church’ which is the second time he mentions it.

Some in the church love these translations of the verse and quote it often as they storm off to confront a brother about the hurt they have caused them.

This has nothing to do with getting even nor about someone dealing with their hurt or anger.

This is all about reconciliation back into the community of believers.

This is all about taking responsibility for each other.

This is all about spurring one another on, iron sharpening iron, accountability and making sure disciples don’t fall away.

There are 4 strands:

• Personal confrontation and to be done in private because ultimately you want your ‘brother or sister’ to be reconciled to God without anyone else knowing their sin.
• Go again if there is no change and this time take a few members of the community of believers with you.
• If there is no change let the church know. In the time of Jesus he is probably not thinking of 100 people sat in pews listening to the preacher denounce someone for sinning but rather smaller groups.
• If there is no change then let them go and treat them as unbelievers. This means to urgently and prayerfully seek for their salvation and to see them not as disciples with their responsibilities and privileges within the church.

May the Disciples of Christ remain in position! That must be our prayer and focus of activity. This is not about what to do if you get your feelings hurt but rather about making sure no more fall away.

In the return from the restrictions of the pandemic back into the gathered services we are going to need more shepherds. There are people who are yet to return to the church services and to the community activities of the church’s mission because of fear but also perhaps because they have wandered away. Many Churches don’t know exactly how many people are still with them yet. The need for the shepherd heart of the church is so important now. It always has been even before the pandemic. People have always drifted away from the church for all kinds of reasons.

Is anyone bothered?

The answer to the following questions reveals the pastoral heart:

Berating or building back up?

Getting even or encouraging into grace?

Washing hands of all responsibilities or restoring into community?

Again we will see the reference to the little ones. This is not babies but those who have fallen away due to the mistreatment from people who should know better (v6-7) or perhaps their own sins (v8-9). The Father will go to great lengths to see them return. Here’s what Jesus said, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18 v 12-14)

Why be bothered about the one?

You have 99 sheep. You have only lost 1. Why be concerned about the 1?

The 99 never strayed away, they never got lost and they never gave you any problems.

But this one sheep not only got lost, but you lost it. It may be its own fault for getting lost but you assume the responsibility for it.

If you can apportion blame then you don’t need to do anything, you don’t need to go searching, it is not your fault.

If you can blame it then you can focus on the larger number that is left.

But you don’t.

This sheep is no longer in the safety of the flock.

It began to drift. It stopped coming to the home-group. It reduced the Sunday attendances.

Finally it dropped off completely. Weeks have gone by.

Are you bothered? It is only 1 member, you still have 99.

It is just 1 widow. 1 young person. 1 poor person. 1 not very gifted person.

Are you concerned about the small numbers?

If you want to see growth then don’t be tempted by the largeness of 99 that you forget it is made up of 99 individuals who could all get lost.

To get back to 100, you have to keep an eye on the smallness of one.

This is mission.

You have at least one angel who knows the face of God in heaven. I’m not sure how many angels you and I have encountered in our lives. No doubt there are many unknown moments but which are very much part of our story.

This seen world is not everything. What is as real as what we think is real is the unseen world. A world of beings that are in the presence of God and are sent to this earth to carry out tasks for Him.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18 v 10)

God’s angels have protective roles: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 91:11).

God’s angels watch us: “We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.” (1 Corinthians 4:9)

God’s angels are involved with our story of life. The early church believers thought that Peter’s angel had come to them instead of Peter when really an angel had released him from prison (Acts 12:15).

There is all around us an intense spiritual war which we can influence through our prayers, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:3-4)

And there are many!

When God comes He can come in an unrecognisable way, vulnerable and in weakness. He came as a baby. However when God comes He can also come with power and strength, loud and bright. Look at this verse showing how He came with the law in Mt Sinai: “The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.” Psalm 68:17. Tens of thousands and thousands of thousands! That’s a huge number! Look at these verses: “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones.” Jude 1:14 and then again in Daniel 7:10, “A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were open.”

God has much at His disposal. He has a vast army. He is strong, powerful, awesome God. We cannot see that number, it is infinite.
Let’s magnify our God today. We cannot make Him bigger but we can see Him bigger.

And let us remember to treat people well, especially the ‘little ones’ for they have angels who stand in the presence of God!

Take a look at our next verses …

^“10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. ^[11] [a] 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? (Matthew 18 v 10-12)

1. Matthew 18:11 Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke 19:10.

 I am certainly not qualified to write on textual criticism nor are my morning blogs meant to be that deep! However this anomaly before us has got me thinking this morning. But first here are some basic points:

• The missing verse is, For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. (NASB) Matthew 18:11 and is also found in the KJV.
• The verse is taken from Luke 19 v 10: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
• The added verse comes before a parable of the wandering sheep and helps as a title or introduction to it.
• The missing verse does not appear in the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.
• It doesn’t affect anything about our Christian doctrines or the person of Christ.
• We do not have the original manuscripts of the New Testament; we have copies of copies as do other ancient documents but the Bible stands alone as being the most accurate with scholars saying it is 99.8% accurate and no doctrines are effected by the small textual inaccuracies.
• Chapters and verses were added by the copyists to help us find our way around the Bible.

There is so much more to study and the benefit of the internet means we have no excuse!

But here is what I thank God for today: the copyists!

The unknown and unsung heroes of the Bible are those copyists who painstakingly sat to do painstakingly amazing work of copying the Bible. Yes a few textual errors occurred but these can be seen as just typos in our language today. The materials that they used were perishable and coupled with the fact persecution was often experienced and their writings burned the need to copy copies by hand continued in order to preserve this beautiful Bible we have today.

May we all be wonderful copyists of the Bible! Perhaps not a transcribing one but a lived out version of the Bible so that the world can see God. Yes there will be human error and we won’t be the perfect copy but we are getting better at this life. People are always reading us in some way.

If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (Matthew 18 v 8-9)

So we haven’t done this yet have we? We haven’t cut our hands and feet off, we haven’t plucked our eyes out and thus saved ourselves from an eternal fiery hell.

If we were to start where would we stop? We would have no body parts left for sure!

But perhaps our understanding of these verses have caused us to try harder, to stop this, to stop that, become better, work harder, do more, go without and if we do all this then we will enter the kingdom of God.

We have certainly done that and we are up for trying even harder today.

But what if we have understood it wrongly?!

Let us remind ourselves of the scene:

Jesus has again revealed that he will suffer, die and rise again.

The disciples not understanding have spoken about who was the greatest among them.

Jesus warns them in their leadership position not to make the little ones stumble because if they did their own lives will be seriously affected, they would be the ones to stumble.

So what is the hand, the foot and the eye?

Is it certain sins that we have tried to rid ourselves from?

Or is it self-righteousness towards others? Is it the desire to become greater than others? Is it a lack of serving others? Are these the sins that need cutting off? Are the sins against others what is being focused on rather than the sins against our own bodies?

But if you don’t agree, go ahead and keep cutting off your body parts!

Be careful what you demand and what you strive for.

Make sure the trophy you seek is that of the righteousness of Christ.

Not all trophies are to be celebrated. Behind narcissistic, coercive and manipulative trophy cabinets lie the relics of drowned leaders who desired to be powerful.

‘If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung round their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!  (Matthew 18 v 6-7)

Jesus is speaking to the 12 disciples, the leaders of the church.

The little ones are those who give a cup of water. Those believers who may not be as significant as the 12 disciples or similar large ministry in the church.

The little ones are those who come under the influence and care of people with greater seniority. They are represented by the child standing among the disciples.

The little ones are new believers of Christ.

To cause to stumble is to entice them away from following Jesus through temptation.

To cause them to stumble is to put needless pressure on them to perform to such a degree that it becomes inevitable that they will fall away.

To cause them to stumble is to discourage them from following their plan and purpose in God.

Why would any leader do this? Desire.

Why would any leader do this? Control.

Why would any leader do this? Self-righteousness.

The millstone is a form of execution that is a slow and painful death reserved for those leaders who make the little ones stumble.

The millstone means you are being removed from the scene of life.

The millstone means you will never make a come-back to the exact place you once were.

Jesus has said he was going to suffer and they want to talk about who is the greatest. Perhaps Jesus mentioned one of them would betray him and they all argued at who it would be. Whatever actually happened the whole team were battling over their positions. Even Peter, James and John who had been chosen to go up the mountain of transfiguration were not content to be in the close circle of Jesus, they too wanted to be number 1. They were full of ambition. Still today even leaders want to be a higher leader, members want to be pastors, Pastors want to be apostles, apostles want to be bishops, bishops want to be archbishops and archbishops want to be Popes. That’s in the church but it is everywhere. Naked, raw ambition, climb the ladder, get to the top, it is better up there. Ambition is a killer of the church.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Matthew 18 v 1-5)

Here are 5 actions to take to avoid selfish ambition:

1. Stop looking in the mirror – Find another visual aid other than yourself. Jesus brought a little child amongst them.
2. Have some self-awareness – This might sound strange because it is an inflated self-awareness that leads to desires of greatness. Jesus told them to change. Unless we change where we are sitting and get a different perspective we will miss the point. How do people experience me? This is the question that leads to self-awareness.
3. Become vulnerable again – Acknowledge you don’t know it all, have it all and can do it all. You need others in your life and you need Him. This child was dependent on parents, had many things to learn and was incapable of doing life their way.
4. Practice lowliness – From a lowly humble position comes lowly thinking, lowly speech and lowly actions.
5. Honour those beneath you – Welcome a child, Jesus says and if you do then you will welcome Him. The presence and the power of the Lord is always to be found in the unlikeliest of places and not on the stages of this world.