Reconciliation Ministry

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

Last time we looked at the relationship between God the final authority, the council, and the judgment as though in some courtroom somewhere. This time we'll be seeing the relationship between the statutes and precepts that exists on a community-based level. You'll need a small group for this, ideally a faith-based one to fully see this put into place. This ensures for all around community-based accountability. Let's say that the other brother from our example before should suddenly remember as he went about serving his community and doing great good, that he has offended his brother. Due to this, his brother will also remember too and thus cause whatever he does to be hindered. Just think of the hypocrisy if I failed to do service to even the least yet sat daily doing good to all else. Though one should be left out or still not at home, I haven't truly done good, have I? It might seem somewhat strange to hear at first to you. Perhaps though the community or the Lord would hear such a one though they cry to him night and day for such a one as yourself.

Far be it from me to do evil upon the earth or the inhabitants thereof. See, blessing the community is a very noble thing to do. Though should you fail in your task, there is still yet the Lord. He takes care in ways you never could. Perhaps the nature of the offense means there's no way to offer justice and so make it right. Still though, there remains the burden within the community of reconciliation with the offended brother. It is at the very least the expectation if not the rule for keeping peace within the community. From there, you can come back and finish your gift or your service for now. It's what prevents nasty scenes like the one we just had from taking place. Though I don't think it would be wise for some people to go around bearing grudges and upset because the wind blew their hair a certain way and ruffled their feathers. That is best kept out of scenarios of judgement lest they should come under observation themselves.