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. The third and final stage: the church. The community as a whole becomes the last resort of the discipline procedure. The refusal to listen to the church produces the status of Gentile and tax collector — the position outside the covenant community. But note that Jesus ate with Gentiles and tax collectors: the status is not permanent exclusion but the beginning of a mission to the alienated.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse