If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
Matthew 18:15 (WEB)
in its setting: Matthew 18:10-17
1 Where we are
Adeline is thirty-four and runs the outlet. At twenty past ten on Monday she counts the float twice, and twice it is twenty dollars light, the second time this month. Before she has finished counting, her mind has supplied a name, and it is the name of the one who came to them carrying a record. She sits with the cash tin, the roster, and the CCTV login open on her phone, and she does nothing. What she wants is to remain the supervisor he can trust, and asking him outright would show what her mind did first. So she decides to watch him instead. Watching is cheaper. Watching keeps her hands clean and keeps her right.
2 What the passage is doing
Jesus says this to disciples who have just been arguing about who is greatest. He puts a child in front of them, warns them not to look down on a single one of these small ones, and tells them about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep on the hills to go after one that has wandered. Only then: if your brother sins against you, go. Not watch, not report, not mention it to the room. Go, alone, with the aim of gaining him back.
ἔλεγξον
elenxon · bring into the light, show plainly
English hears "tell him his fault" and thinks scolding. The Greek word is closer to holding a thing up to the light so that both people can finally see what is actually there. It assumes you might be the one corrected once it is in the open. That is why Jesus sends you in person and alone — light needs a room with two people in it, not a rumour.
3 Taking it with you
You already know what it costs to be the one people quietly keep an eye on. And you may also be the one doing the watching this week, because a conversation could go wrong and surveillance never has to. Hear this first: God did not manage you from a safe distance. Christ came into the room, named what was actually there, and paid for it with his own body rather than keep a file on you. You were not gained by being monitored. You were gained by being approached. Which means you can risk being wrong out loud. Your standing does not rest on having guessed right about anyone, including yourself.
A prayer you can pray
Father, you came close to me instead of watching from outside. Thank you that I was not written up, I was come for. Show me where I have decided about someone without asking them, and give me the nerve to speak to their face instead of around them. If I have got it wrong, let me be corrected. Keep me kind and keep me honest. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria — to God alone be the glory.
