If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. 

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Matthew 18:15-20

How many of us have siblings? And how many of us have never had any disagreements or conflicts with our siblings? Let’s face it, if we are honest we all have. Jesus is advising on how to deal with such situations within our extended family of believers.

Now Jesus’s teaching and the Bible tell us that we should bear with one another, be tolerant and long suffering towards each other. The teaching Jesus is giving here is for situations where it needs to be addressed for resolution.

We could say that Jesus gives us two options when your brother or sister sins against you. You can go to them directly and deal with it; or you can drop the matter under Christian tolerance, forgiveness and bearing with one another. All other options which involve holding onto bitterness, retaliation, and gossiping to others about the problem are not allowed.

Jesus did not say that your brother or sister must agree with you or immediately repent before you. They just need to hear you. There needs to be a preparedness to listen to the point of view of each party and the acceptance that we and our brothers and sisters may have different views.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

It is possible that an arbitrator from our brethren may be required to help resolve the issue by hearing both sides of the matter. The view of the arbitrator having heard both sides may be different to what each had thought. The important thing is that the outcome must be the restoration of the relationship, which is more important than proving who is right. Whilst it can be considered unwise to interfere in a quarrel, sometimes an independent person who is prepared to listen to both sides is what is needed for restoration and Jesus makes it clear that we must be willing to assist in settling a difference.

This process needs to be done humbly and according to the Word, which  is quite binding in the eyes of God. In the ancient Greek, agree is literally “to symphonize.” Jesus wants us to complement each other like a great orchestra. “It is a metaphor taken from a number of musical instruments set to the same key, and playing the same tune: here, it means a perfect agreement of the hearts, desires, wishes, and voices, of two or more persons praying to God.” 

Jesus is just as much present in the little congregation as in the great mass meeting…He is not the slave of numbers. It is meeting in Jesus’s  name that is most essential.

Gathering together in His name means that we are known by Him and by His name. It means that He is our point of gathering; we gather around Jesus. Gathering together in His name means gathering according to the character and nature of Jesus and gathering in a manner that Jesus would endorse.