Healthy, Biblical Conflict Resolution, part 2

Passage: Matthew 5:23-26; 18:15-17

Last Sunday I preached the first part of two sermons on healthy, Biblical conflict resolution.  That sermon caused a couple of people to wonder what big conflict I must be addressing in our church body.  I had no specific conflict in my mind, but rather all the conflict that has been swirling around all of us this past year and a half.  But I didn’t even need that as an excuse.

As I said last week, in our fallen, sinful world conflict is inevitable and unavoidable.  Our two texts this morning assume there will be conflict in our relationships and we all will have relationships that will need reconciliation.

You cannot have a significant meaningful human relationship without sin getting involved and you cannot maintain a significant meaningful human relationship without at some point having to take some steps toward reconciliation and forgiveness.  That is a given.  It is not strange, it is not abnormal, it is reality.

Jesus gives two examples or illustrations of what righteous reconciliation in His kingdom looks like.  One is with a brother, and one with an accuser, presumably an enemy.  One is in the church and the other is in the world, out in public.

Whether a friend or a foe these principles apply.  Whether in the church or in the world Jesus means for us to learn and apply the same lessons.  There are five principles in Jesus’ teaching for seeking and pursuing healthy, Biblical conflict resolution and reconciliation.

We all need these principles.  They apply to every person in this room and to every relationship we have.  Please pay attention, write these down and please take them to heart.

You go.

You go quickly.

You go quickly to the person.

You go quickly to the person in person.

You go quickly to the person in person to be reconciled.