You Dirty Tax Collector!!!!

Something very silly, that I won't mention has be conflicted. Those of you, who know me, know that I have the tendency to get inside my head and over think things....lol...but I'm thinking maybe if I get this out it will be better.

Now the Bible says in Luke 17:3-5 "So be careful how you live. If your brother offends you, take him to task about it, and if he is sorry, forgive him. Yes, if he wrongs you seven times in one day and turns to you and says, 'I am sorry' seven times, you must forgive him. And the apostles said to the Lord, 'give us more faith.'"

The definition of offend is: to irritate, annoy, or anger; cause resentful displeasure in…The KJ version says "trespass"…which means to miss the mark. So I'm guessing in relationships there are expectations (a bulls eye, so-to-speak) and when we become irritated, annoyed, or angered a mark has been missed. This is just my thinking (if you disagree that's fine)…So when this happens you are supposed to talk to that friend about it. I tend to tell myself that even when someone upsets me, it's not that big of a deal and I can just get over it. But here in the Bible it doesn't say get over it…it says talk to your friend about it! And the Bible doesn't say if your friend immensely offends you….so like "sin" against God, sin against one another is not categorized. A sin is a sin, is a sin…Now once you talk to your friend your friend can choose to apologize…and at the point you forgive the person. If you "get over it" and don't talk about the offense, are you robbing your friend of the forgiveness the word says we all deserve? Or is it water under the bridge, and gone forever? IDK And what happens if your friend does not repent? Well let's go back to the word…

Matthew 18:11-14 "If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

So at this point you take a couple of people with you…this part always confused me, but it's based on the Old Testament.

Deut 19:15." One witness alone shall not take the stand against a man in regard to any crime or any offense of which he may be guilty; a judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

In other words you bring in a neutral party…finally it says tell the church. Here church refers not to the entire church of Jesus, but to the local congregation. In the end it says if he refuses to listen then treat him like a Gentile or tax collector. Back in the day, Jewish people avoided the company of Gentiles and tax collectors.

To be honest in many of my relationships I skipped the first couple of steps and unintentionally moved my friends into the "tax collector" category! Sometimes I just complete one step but my words come out wrong. You know how that is…things are said in the heat of the moment…and thought the words may be true they aren't said in a receptive way…. Colossians 4:6 says Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Today I'm resolving to take the Bible steps of conflict resolution! And I want to encourage you to do the same thing, because it is a big deal and you never really get over it if you don't 'deal with it.

So I guess that silly thing that I won't mention isn't so silly and needs to be mentioned! If I start mentioning things to you my friend, I'm just doin what my Daddy said to do…J