Well-Being Maintenence

Cleanliness has to be maintained. Anti-corrosion has to be maintained. Paint has to be maintained. Machines have to be maintained. Hair has to be maintained. Clothes have to be maintained. We spend a fair amount of time trying to maintain things. As important as all these things may be in a context, to the Father there is nothing more important to be maintained than well-being within relationships. Christians should be found saying often "Are we okay?" Within the BIG scheme of things God is heading toward a grand end. Paul said it this way in Ephesians 1:22-23, "And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." "All in all" says it all. If you follow this thought in Ephesians 2 you will see that God is aiming toward everyone being a part of this grand temple where He will indwell His people. In Chapter 3 Paul continues the thought revealing that this has always been God's divine plan. And in Chapter 4-6 Paul gets very practical about what it takes to maintain this unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace.

So in our current text, Matthew 18:15-35, Jesus is going to give instructions to His apostles about how to handle conflict in the new Kingdom. It is this conflict that threatens Kingdom Well-Being. God's Kingdom is to be a peaceable kingdom, ruled by the Prince of Peace (Isa.9:6). In this Kingdom God seeks to maintain peace among His subjects so the energy of the Kingdom is not dissipated through internal conflict. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the real enemies, those unseen forces that would cause us all trouble (Eph.6:10ff). So Jesus addresses the handling of conflict with brothers (and sisters). This is not a suggestion. This is the way we are to operate within in the Kingdom. But, this is hard to put into practice because we are fleshly beings. On the one hand we normally hate conflict. On the other hand we sure create a lot of it. We can stir up conflict, but we are often reluctant to fix it. In the context of Matthew 18, Jesus has been talking about those who cause offense to others, even toward children and those seeking to know Christ better. These stumblingblocks in the Kingdom have to be confronted. They are messing with the well-being of the family. They are making it more difficult for us all to do God's real work of reconciling the world to Himself. How can a Christian or local church be ministers of reconciliation while living estranged from one another? Don't you think the message might be a little skewed?

So Jesus is going to tell us how to maintain well-being. He will speak of procedures, persistence, and perspective. Each of these will lead us to conviction to daily doing our part to see that well-being within ourselves, within our homes, and within our churches is maintained. When Christians learn the art of reconciliation and winning their brother (sister), then we can also take on the role of peace-maker, receiving the designation sons (daughters) of God. (Matt.5:9) How the body of Christ needs those who will help to maintain well-being among us! They are the stabilizers. They are the ones who seek to step into conflict and bring about peace, understanding, healing, and reconciliation. This is the vision that God has for His people.