Conflict exists everywhere whether it is in historical events such as 9/11 or in a game of rugby. I myself remember one Christmas when my brother and I were told to share a one-person trampoline and of course being only 5 and 7 years old we both wanted to try it out first. We sprinted towards it brushed up against each other and my brother tripped me, it then started a fight between us and made the Christmas of 2007 the worst ever. You see one of the most important traits of a person is being able to resolve conflict because if you can it will save a lot of trouble. The catholic church teaches this to us in Mathew 18:15-20, which I believe is a very important gospel reading, thus I will be discussing the world behind it, the world of it and …show more content…
Matthew is sometimes called the Book of the Church because it seems to reflect more clearly than the other Gospels matters related to leadership, organisation, authority and order within the structure and life of the Church. In Matthew18 we can discern issues and struggles in the early Christian communities for whom Matthew was writing. Among such matters were struggles for power (18:1-4); scandalous behaviour that caused others to stray from the right path (18:5-10); the need to bring back those who are lost to the community (18:12-14) and above all the need for forgiveness without which no community can long endure (18:21-35). Our focus text, Matthew 18:15-20, deals with the delicate matter of reproving those whose sinful behaviour is such that they need correction. It is clear from the passage that Matthew is aware of accepted protocol for such correction and Michael Fallon refers to some connections to Jewish protocols in his commentary on Mt.18;15-20 below. Matthew is at pains to assert the authority of the Church as final arbiter when matters cannot be settled between individuals (Mt. 18:18-20), a passage which is often used as a sort of proof text to underpin the authority of Church leadership and the ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in sustaining the Church throughout history. For a more detailed commentary on Matthew 18:15-20 go to Michael Fallon