Have you ever had an experience like me that you felt so angry you could spit? My pulse sky rockets, my shoulders tighten and I become super vigilant of my words. We have all had the temptation to let our words fly and give someone a piece of our minds.
Jesus addressed our feelings of being violated, telling us how to handle the situation.
First, we are instructed to go to the person and confront them privately. If the person repents from their unfair treatment, the situation stops there.
Second, if the person scorns your attempts to resolve the problem we are to bring one or two more people with us to confront the violator. There are times when this is enough to make the other person realize they had made wrong choices. To them it is no longer your opinion against theirs, but they see that others view the situation from your point of view. If that person repents, the issue is dropped.
In rare cases, when the one who is in the wrong remains unrepentant, we are instructed to bring that person before church. This is not an injunction to stand up on the middle of a church services and announce the sin of another. It is rather and admonition to take the situation before the leaders of the church. If the person continues to refuse to repent, the person is treated as an unbeliever.
The qualification for this kind of discipline can only be for serious sinful behavior, not a difference of opinion (Mathew 18:15-18).
