Loveless Peril

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
(Matthew 5:21-22 ESV)

Christ's words here are more than serious. I recently heard an individual question the validity of the Matthew 18 procedure for solving conflict in the church with the inane argument of "but no one actually does that." While most church-going believers would not go to the extreme of verbalizing this sentiment, I am amazed at how often this clear instruction of Scripture is not practiced. Jesus makes it clear in more than one place: your relationship with other believers is critical to your spiritual health. I would even go so far as to state it like this: If you choose to despise your brother, you imperil your soul. We must be convinced of this. God ordains that Christians walk together in love and that our relationships with one another be the very thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world. They will know we are his followers by how we love one another. Therefore, if we are full of critical, unloving attitudes toward fellow believers, we are endangering ourselves to judgment.

The next verse gives the serious implication of a serious issue.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
(Matthew 5:23-24 ESV)

Jesus gives us a prerequisite to worship. We must not think for one moment that we can acceptably worship God while holding a grudge or knowingly not be at peace with a brother. What makes this verse particularly interesting to me is the fact that it says if you "remember that your brother has something against you" that we are to leave our gift and go to be reconciled with our brother. This brings up a very important question in my mind. Does this mean that I am responsible for someone's grudge against me? Obviously there is a point at which this can not be. If George W. Bush were to try and make amends with all of his known enemies, and those who have grudges against him on a global level, he would face an impossible task. On a smaller scale, it is obviously true that this is not always possible for any of us who are of a meaner profile than the president.

This still leaves the question of what is meant in this verse.

I can't help but wonder if there is not some clear connection between Matthew 5:23-24 and Matthew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Disciples of Jesus Christ make peace. Along with every attempt to worship God, there is a real effort to reconcile with any known deviance with a brother. I don't think it matters who is to blame. It doesn't matter who is actually holding the grudge or who the real instigator might be: God's principle is reconciliation.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
(Romans 12:18 ESV)

This is God's requirement. It is not optional. It is not something I can choose to ignore. I wonder at times if part of the reason the world has such a low concept of Christ is because they have a low concept of the church. Thus, I wonder if this such low concept of the church stems from the reality that we have a such low concept of each other. If we can't get along it's because we don't begin to know Calvary love.

God help us love.