"18 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 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!"
Etcetera, Etcetera.
I'm confused. Did the other guy mean a different verse? Because I don't know what this has to do with anything.
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18 is one of the most abused verses and yeah, it is used that way often unfortunately because people don't read and hold abusers accountable.
"if your brother sins against you". This scripture is to deal with personal issues, like if another christian has sinned against you, then you should follow Matthew 18. It is definitely not about public teachings. Public teachings are rebuked all the time publicly in scripture and to say its wrong is just retarded.
An easy example, and there are a lot more than this, is in Galatians Paul rebukes Peter publicly, openly, in front of everyone for his behavior (Galatians 2 ish I think?). Because he cares about the impact his bad behavior has on the church as a whole.
Edit: As long as your heart is love for God and love for others, then as a Christian you should go for it, publicly rebuke away.
"We can all learn a lot from this young man here, this.. this.." "Rudiger." "Rudiger. And if we can all be more like little Rudiger.." "His name is Bart" "His name isn't important!"
"18 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 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!"
Etcetera, Etcetera.
I'm confused. Did the other guy mean a different verse? Because I don't know what this has to do with anything.
Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
It's a bit further down the page.
Ok I can see that now. I got tired of reading it after the first half. That's why pastors make the big bucks.
Depending on your church, you hear that one a lot.
It's the "don't air the dirty laundry" clause that lets them keep it on the down low when pastors have affairs or other corruption gets noticed.
Matthew 18 is one of the most abused verses and yeah, it is used that way often unfortunately because people don't read and hold abusers accountable.
"if your brother sins against you". This scripture is to deal with personal issues, like if another christian has sinned against you, then you should follow Matthew 18. It is definitely not about public teachings. Public teachings are rebuked all the time publicly in scripture and to say its wrong is just retarded.
An easy example, and there are a lot more than this, is in Galatians Paul rebukes Peter publicly, openly, in front of everyone for his behavior (Galatians 2 ish I think?). Because he cares about the impact his bad behavior has on the church as a whole.
Edit: As long as your heart is love for God and love for others, then as a Christian you should go for it, publicly rebuke away.