Matthew 18:7 ¶ Woe unto the
world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to
that man by whom the offence cometh! 8
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them
from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than
having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one
eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these
little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep,
and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and
goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say
unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine
which went not astray. 14 Even so it is
not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones
should perish.
In a sinful world are many temptations and sins. You do not want
to be, however, a person through whom they come. It would be better for us to
lose a part of our body that leads us into sin against God than have His wrath
on us. Literally, the child has his audience in heaven but spiritually the
child-like believer in trust and obedience to God has his appearance before the
throne of God whose will it is that not one should perish.
What can be said of this passage on the one hand is the special
contempt God has for those who harm the faith of a child. On the other hand,
those who use the previously mentioned techniques to damage the faith of a
follower of Christ, whom God does not wish to perish, merit the same wrath. We
must be careful of what we say and measure how our words impact others.
We often pray for the children of the church. We must understand
that how we live before them and how real our faith is expressed, without
manipulation or exploitation, is of vital importance in leading them in faith.
Matthew 18: 15 ¶ Moreover
if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between
thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then
take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established. 17 And if
he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a
publican. 18 Verily I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven. 20 For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Look at the context of this entire passage without taking a verse
out of context to make it mean something it wasn’t intended to mean. How many
times has someone been angry with me for some slight, real or imagined, and
chosen to go to someone else to complain, rather than to me directly? Here is
Christ’s blueprint for dealing with an offense. Go first to the person who you
feel has wronged you. Then, if that doesn’t work, take a couple of Godly
friends. If the person is still not repentant then it is time to bring the
issue before the church itself. It is only at his or her unrepentant attitude
in this situation that you should reject their company and companionship.
If that is the way things turn out Christ says that He will
respect the results that happen on earth in Heaven. The assumption is that your
grievance is genuine and that you have followed His instructions. This
grievance must be genuine and not a petty thing considering the magnitude of
what is called for here. Responding to your thin skin, your dominating
attitude, or your tyranny of weakness should not be a part of this. The
grasping control freak and the manipulative “victim” attitude cannot be used to
justify your grievance.
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