Matthew 18:15-20 Dear Partner in Preaching, I must confess that I think I’ve been misreading this Sunday’s passage from Matthew for, well, pretty much my whole life. J That’s likely because – another confession coming – I tend to read Matthew as a fairly strict rule enforcer, a little harsh a times, even bordering on nasty occasionally. (Told you I was about to ‘fess up!) But… I think I’ve got it – and Matthew – all wrong. (Well, not all wrong, as Matthew can be kind of harsh, particularly when dealing with the Pharisees, his likely opponents in the struggle for the allegiance of his folks.)...

Matthew 18:15-20 Dear Partner in Preaching, So what do you think? Rules or relationships? I think this may be the central question to answer in our reading and preaching of this particular passage in Matthew. Is he giving us rules to live by or privileging relationships over, well, just about everything else in our life as Christians. If the former, then you have a rather neat little formula for maintaining a semblance of order in the Christian community. Someone offends you, confront them. If that doesn’t work, try an intervention. If that fails, cut them off and kick them out. If nothing else, it’s at least straight forward, which is...