Matthew 18:17-18 “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-collector. Truly I say to you, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.”
In the first page of this topic we looked at the first two steps in the process of dealing with an offending believer. The first step was to confront the person privately. If the first step didn't solve the problem then the second step was to take one or two others as witnesses and try again to confront the person. We now come to the third step in this process.
If the person still refuses to listen, then the next step is to bring in the Church. This is where the matter is taken to the ministers, elders, or other church officers. The names and reputations of all parties must still be protected so careful consideration should be used in selecting which Church leaders are chosen. Church leaders are human and have human faults. It would not be wise to chose someone who has a tendency to gossip. It is important for everyone involved to keep confidential everything said and done.
When the situation is brought before the church officers, no one should say anything or even allow their minds to develop any kind of bias until all have joined together in prayer, asking the Lord to let the truth be shown and to guide in what happens in the meeting. Only after having prayer should anyone say anything about the situation. Both parties are allowed to give their side of the story and the witnesses give their report of what was said when they tried to help the offender. Using the Bible to support their statements, the Church officers will try to reason with the offender. A constant attitude of prayer is needed when a situation has gotten to this point. Only a stubborn will could have caused the problem to go this far. Everyone needs to be careful in what they say and how they say it. Only by relying on God for the right words can this be done.
If the person still won't listen, then it is time for the two parties to separate from each other. If you look at verses 15-18 Jesus uses the word, “You” in each text. He is still referring to the person who was wronged, and He is saying they are to avoid the company of, or have any kind of friendship with the offending believer. They have done all they can to reach out to the person and now it is time to drop the matter. To keep trying to convince the other person will only cause more anger. The person is not willing to change their heart. Only by the constant work of the Holy Spirit can this person's heart be changed. When people go beyond these steps and keep trying to make a person to give in, they end up walking into the devil's ground.
The Church has a decision to make also. We'll look at that decision in page 3.