A way to live a mission in church to restore a relationship with a member who has offended you.
Work hard to become reconciled with any members who offend you.
Based on Matthew 18:15-20
A way to live a mission of restoration when you have been offended based on Matthew 18:15-20, a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 9/10/17.
Jesus is asked what to do when a church member offends you. If you have been hurt tell the offender when you are alone. If the offender listens, you have brought him or her back. If the offender does not listen, then take action by taking two or three members with you as witnesses. If the offender does not listen, tell the whole congregation. If the offender still refuses to listen, treat him or her as an outsider, as a Gentile, or as a tax collector working for a foreign nation [the Roman Empire]. [This rejection is unlike Jesus’ usual spirit of forgiveness and may come from a period of hostility from others toward the church.] Jesus closes with saying that what his followers decide in his name [guided by the presence and spirit] is accepted by his Father in heaven.
A theme: Work carefully to restore a relationship with a member who has offended you.
