A Christian community cannot simply disregard its standards by giving free sway to any level of behavior. This denial of values has consequences. Fraternal correction is the great test for the Christian community: to maintain gospel values among a people who are flawed and sinful yet called to holiness. Jesus assures his presence in this struggle to preserve the humility and service that will maintain the loving community in spite of the sinful members. Prayer will draw the members into the presence of Jesus. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst” (Mt 18:20). This presence will be a formidable force for the necessary confrontation. It will also bring needed consolation and celebration.
Love must be the overall driving force of fraternal correction. All finger pointing must start with the finger pointed at oneself. The other must be approached with a sense of one’s own vulnerability. Love does not seek to antagonize the disruptive member, but love agonizes with that person. It calls forth. It does not put down. The goal is that all are involved in a deeper experience of Gods mercy.
When the conflict happens, Jesus asks us to approach it with humility and radical forgiveness. Recall the advice from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt.5-7). These special chapters contain multiple teachings about forgiveness and reconciliation. One really relevant one is fraternal correction: “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first, then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:5).
Secondly, Jesus advises us to bring the conflict or hurt out into the open, into the light of day. Going to the one who offends in loving and open dialogue helps us to see another point of view.
Jesus’ teaching will keep us from the vocation of being the victim. The victim seeks to divide not to heal. When we are the victim, we escalate the problem by telling others how we have been hurt. In this way we further disrupt the community. What we are really doing is seeking power to control the other, ultimately making the healing of the community less likely.
The heart of Mt 18:15-20 offers a program of discipline to address conflict, whether it is between individuals or involves significant and continuous violations of community values. This search for harmony is not possible without the spirit of love. There are four steps in Jesus’ structured approach to fraternal correction. The one clear goal of this intervention is to prevent all from personal shame. The process seeks personal growth for all. Finally, it highlights the need for prayerful forgiveness. The combination of these actions hopes to build up the community rather than to tear it down in division and hostility by building bridges over the walls of isolation and separation.
Here are the steps:
This procedure assumes a smaller community but it is also applicable to a larger .Christian community. What it does seem to demand is a relationship with meaningful depth. Members should be living with a true involvement with one another. These mature interpersonal relationships open up the possibility of genuinely helping one another. This quality of engagement will inevitably expose the destructive nature of the conflict. True vulnerability and dependence are critical for community. Sitting on the sidelines with the protection of isolation and no personal and communal investment excludes one from true participation in the community.1. A person-to-person approach seeks a healing dialogue recognizing that there most often are many sides to any issue.2. If there is a failure to heal the breach at the initial level, two or three witnesses are asked to join the dialogue.3. When this is not sufficient, the issue must be brought to the larger community.4. Finally, when the community sees a continuing violation of the core values, the individual is asked to leave until there is a change. The departure is never considered permanent and always is done in a loving and forgiving manner.
This is why I remain clueless of how many are truly members of the faith community of the parish. How does one measure accurately how an individual is committed to help at the risk of getting hurt? God knows. All we need to do is to love with a love that expands the horizon of inclusion with a heartfelt atmosphere of welcoming. This love must lead to forgiveness. Finally, the gospel message and its values must be upheld and celebrated as the driving force of the community. Once we do this, we can let Jesus be the score keeper.
III
The Forgiving Community
There is a clear message in this final section (Mt 18:21-35): Forgiveness is the life-blood of the loving community. To get this point across, Jesus uses a parable. Parables tend to make us glide over the surface and miss the depth of their main message. This is especially true with this parable of the unforgiving servant.
In reading and experiencing this parable, we need to pay attention to the great exaggerations that are used to make a simple and clear point. The first hyperboles are about the debt of the unforgiving servant. In the context of Jesus’ time, it was the equivalent of billions upon billions of dollars. Yet, the servant pleaded for time as if he could accomplish the impossible task of retribution. The generosity of the king in his merciful forgiveness is like-wise pressing the limits of the imagination. Then, receiving the incredible mercy, the unforgiving servant almost immediately attacks the fellow servant whose debt is quite manageable. The second servant has an almost verbatim plea for mercy but it is rejected. He is cast into prison with no way to pay the debt and no way to freedom.
None of this makes any sense if the issue is paying back the debt. Of course, It is not. The issue is forgiveness received and forgiveness to be shared. The king does not condemn the unforgiving servant because he had robbed his money. The king’s main grievance is the failure to share forgiveness. The king’s question is directed to all of us: “Should you not have mercy on your fellow servant as I had on you” (Mt 18:34)?
