In Mark 9, after Jesus confronted His disciples for “argu[ing]” over which one of them “was the greatest,” corrected them for criticizing a kingdom worker who “was not following” their specific group, and warned them about the danger of negatively impacting the faith of a child, He instructed them to “be at peace with one another.” All of those things Jesus addressed before His peace instruction were forms of conflict. He had followers trying to upstage one another. He had followers trying to exclude one another. He had followers potentially hurting someone’s faith. And He wanted them to understand that the life of a disciple is not meant to create conflict; it’s meant to pursue peace. In this lesson, we will explore two ways the Bible authorizes us to deal with conflict and one way it doesn’t.
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Matthew 18:15-20 (ESV)
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”