In addressing conflicts within the early Church, Matthew propounds Jesus’ teachings on community life, on forgiveness, and reconciliation.

First, Jesus calls them to approach fellow believers privately and with love; this requires humility and courage while maintaining respect and compassion. The goal is not to condemn or shame but to seek reconciliation and healing.

Second, if the initial attempt at reconciliation fails, they are to take the testimony of two or three witnesses. This step underscores the importance of accountability and the role of the community in resolving conflicts. The presence of witnesses serves to ensure fairness and transparency, preventing misunderstandings and fostering a spirit of mutual support.

Third, if the person still refuses to listen, the matter should be brought before the Church. And if they refuse to listen even to the Church, they are to be treated as a pagan or a tax collector. This act of “excommunication” highlights the gravity of unresolved sin and the necessity of maintaining the integrity of the community, though in hindsight, Jesus treated pagans and tax collectors with love, compassion, and a desire for their repentance and restoration.

The Lord cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city! With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar. Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writer’s case at his waist, saying to him: Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and mark a “Thau” on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it. To the others I heard the Lord say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy! Old men, youths and maidens, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the “Thau”; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men, the elders, who were in front of the temple. Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city. Then the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim. These lifted their wings, and I saw them rise from the earth, the wheels rising along with them. They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them. Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”