Jesus is continuing to teach his disciples:15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Ian MuWhat happens when someone does wrong by God? What happens when someone sins against you? What do you do? In today’s passage, Jesus tells us what to do. Step 1: talk to them one on one. If they don’t listen, step 2: bring one or two mature Christians and talk to them. If they don’t listen, step 3: tell it to the church. If they still don’t listen, step 4: treat them like tax collectors and pagans.Jesus says if they “listen to you”, then you’ve won them over. Listening means they recognise and admit that they’ve done wrong and want to change. It takes humility to admit you’re wrong.But if they hear what you say and disagree and continue in sin, that’s when you continue to the final step of treating them like tax collectors and pagans. Back then, tax collectors were hated and excluded from the community because of how corrupt they were. So imagine hearing Jesus say this – to me it would sound like, “treat them like criminals”. Naturally for me, I would think bad of them and avoid them or say to my friends, “keep your kids away.”But remember that Jesus didn’t treat tax collectors and outsiders like the world treated them. He loved them and spent time with them and called them to turn away from their sin. Jesus even laid down his life for the world, so that they could know God and be saved.Step 4 means treating people who continue to sin against others as unbelievers, people who are not part of God’s family, so that they will realise how serious it is. But it doesn’t mean hating them like the world would. We still need to love them like Jesus did.When we’re sinned against, it’s not easy to speak up and say something, but it’s the loving thing to do. We should do it for the sake of our brothers and sisters.When we’re the one who has done something wrong, it's not easy to be told that, but the loving thing to do is swallow our pride and listen for our own sake.I pray and hope it never gets to stage 4! I pray and hope it doesn’t even reach stage 1. But all the action should be done out of love, for the sake of winning over those who go astray.ABOUT THE AUTHORIan is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.