What Jesus Did! 'Even When Done to Us!' — Matthew 18:15-17

The old line about education in the U.S. was that we need to focus on the three R's - reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. In church discipline, the focus needs to be on God's three R's-repentance, redemption, and reconciliation. The first has to do with the sinner's response, the next is God's gracious action, and the third is the work of the church community.

However, in most Western cultures today, the problem is not with our receiving back those who have rebelled; the problem is that we don't know each other well enough to help in times of temptation, to confront in times of sin, and to care enough to discipline when rebellion is destroying lives. The world does not understand because it does not value Christian character. But it is more than a character battle among God's children; it's a battle for people themselves to rescue them from Satan's grasp. Jesus' words are harsh, but no harsher than the behavior of someone who repeatedly refuses to listen to God's call in his or her life. Jesus loved the lost lamb (Matthew 18:12-14). Can we do less?