A Symphony of Reconciliation

Posted by expedition44 on February 19, 2026

Matthew 18, Covenant Community, and the Formation of a Restorative Church

Introduction: Reconciliation as the Shape of the Kingdom

The New Testament vision of the church is not merely a collection of forgiven individuals but a reconciled community whose shared life embodies the reconciling work of Christ. Paul’s language is unmistakable: God “gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18), and through Christ has “broken down the dividing wall of hostility” to create one new humanity (Eph 2:14–16).

Reconciliation is not an optional ethic of the kingdom—it is its very form.

Within this theological horizon, Matthew 18:15–20 stands as one of the most concentrated teachings on the internal life of the messianic community. Yet it is frequently reduced to a procedural manual for church discipline. Such a reduction obscures the depth of Jesus’ instruction, which is rooted in covenantal ethics, Second Temple communal practice, and a profoundly pastoral vision of restoration.

To read Matthew 18 faithfully is to read it as a call to become a people who actively shepherd one another from relational dissonance into covenant harmony—a people whose life together sounds like a symphony of grace.

I. Covenant Consciousness and the Social World of Matthew 18

First-century Jewish identity was fundamentally corporate. Individuals existed within networks of kinship, covenant, and communal obligation. The holiness code of Leviticus provides a direct conceptual background for Jesus’ teaching:

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him” (Lev 19:17).

Here rebuke is not a violation of love; it is an expression of it. To refuse to confront wrongdoing is to allow estrangement to deepen and covenant fidelity to fracture.¹

Matthew’s Gospel reflects this same covenant consciousness. The term ekklesia in Matthew 18:17 does not refer to an institutional church in the later sense, but to the gathered covenant assembly of the Messiah’s people—ALL OF ISRAEL renewed and reconstituted around Jesus.²

Second Temple Jewish sources confirm that graded processes of confrontation and restoration were normative. The Qumran community’s Rule (1QS 5–7) describes private admonition, then small-group adjudication, and finally communal involvement.³ Jesus’ instructions mirror this pattern but transform it with a distinctly messianic emphasis: every stage is oriented toward restoration rather than exclusion.

II. ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō): Sin as Relational Dissonance

The teaching begins with a condition: “If your brother sins against you…” (Matt 18:15). The verb ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) is typically rendered “to sin,” yet its semantic range in Greek and in its Hebrew conceptual background (ḥāṭāʾ) includes the idea of missing alignment with covenant fidelity.⁴

Within Israel’s Scriptures, sin is never merely private wrongdoing; it is a rupture of relational and communal shalom. Thus, the issue in Matthew 18 is not limited to overt moral transgression. It includes any action or interaction that creates relational misalignment within the covenant body—whether through clear offense, misunderstanding, or failure of communication.

R. T. France notes that Matthew intentionally leaves the type of offense unspecified, suggesting that Jesus envisions a wide range of relational breaches.⁵ The concern is not legal classification but relational restoration.

This insight reframes the entire passage. The question is not simply, “Has someone committed a punishable offense?” but “Has the harmony of the body been disrupted?”

III. Edification and Positive Shepherding: A Covenant Response to Offense

At this point, the Hebraic mindset of covenant interpretation becomes essential. In contrast to modern Western assumptions that prioritize individual rights and subjective offense, covenant communities are called to interpret one another’s actions through a posture of edification and charitable discernment.

This reflects what we have articulated pastorally as positive shepherding—the deliberate choice to interpret others’ actions in the most life-giving trajectory possible, refusing to default to suspicion or accusation. Such a posture is not naïve; it is covenantal.

It seeks clarity before judgment and restoration before division.

In this light, Jesus’ first instruction—“go and tell him his fault between you and him alone”—is not an act of confrontation driven by grievance. It is an act of shepherding love that seeks to re-tune the relationship before it fractures further.

John Nolland observes that this private approach protects the offender from unnecessary shame in an honor–shame culture while also guarding the community from gossip and factionalism.⁶ It is a deeply pastoral act: truth spoken in love for the sake of restoration.

IV. From Dissonance to Harmony: συμφωνέω (symphoneō)

The passage culminates with the striking promise:

“If two of you agree (συμφωνήσωσιν) on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matt 18:19).

The verb συμφωνέω (symphoneō) literally means “to sound together,” from which we derive the word symphony.⁷ The image is not juridical but musical—distinct voices brought into relational harmony.

This is the telos of Matthew 18. The goal is not merely to resolve conflict but to restore relational resonance within the body of Christ.

Our theological emphasis on edification illuminates this movement. Edification is not mere encouragement; it is the active building up of others into maturity and unity through life-giving speech and covenantal care. In this sense, edification becomes the pastoral bridge from hamartanō (relational misalignment) to symphoneō (relational harmony).

Thus, Matthew 18 can be read as a discipleship pathway:

Recognize relational dissonance (hamartanō)
Pursue restoration through shepherding love
Invite communal discernment when necessary
Arrive at relational harmony (symphoneō) under Christ’s lordship

Where such harmony exists, Jesus promises His presence: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt 18:20). This is not a general statement about small gatherings but a declaration about the presence of Christ in reconciled community.⁸

V. Binding and Loosing: Authority Under Christ

Jesus’ language of “binding and loosing” (Matt 18:18) draws directly from Jewish legal discourse, where rabbis used these terms to describe authoritative rulings concerning what was permitted or prohibited in covenant life.⁹

By entrusting this authority to the gathered community, Jesus grants the church a profound responsibility: to discern, under His lordship, how the life of the kingdom is to be embodied in concrete situations.

Yet this authority is not autonomous. It is exercised within the bounds of Jesus’ teaching, the witness of Scripture, and the guidance of the Spirit. Craig Blomberg emphasizes that the church’s authority is derivative—it reflects heaven’s will rather than creating it.¹⁰

Thus, the process of Matthew 18 is not juridical in the modern sense; it is pastoral, covenantal, and Spirit-guided, aiming to align earthly relationships with heavenly realities.

VI. The Final Step: Reframing “Gentile and Tax Collector”

The final stage—treating the unrepentant individual “as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt 18:17)—must be read in light of Jesus’ own ministry. Jesus did not avoid Gentiles and tax collectors; He pursued them, ate with them, and called them into restored fellowship.

Therefore, this step does not authorize hostility or abandonment. It acknowledges a broken state of fellowship while maintaining a posture of ongoing invitation to repentance and restoration. Dale Allison notes that the text assumes the continued possibility of repentance even after exclusion.¹¹

Thus, even in its most severe form, Matthew 18 remains oriented toward redemptive hope.

VII. The Shepherd’s Burden: Forming a Culture of Restoration

For pastors and leaders, Matthew 18 is both a gift and a weight. It calls for the cultivation of a community in which:

Sin is taken seriously without being weaponized
Confrontation is practiced in humility and love
Accountability is understood as covenant care
Unity is pursued without compromising holiness

Irwyn Ince describes such a church as a “beautiful community,” one that displays the reconciling power of the gospel precisely in its diversity and its conflicts.¹²

Such a culture does not arise naturally. It must be formed intentionally through teaching, modeling, and the consistent practice of edification, repentance, and forgiveness.

It requires a reorientation of vision—seeing one another not as adversaries but as brothers and sisters for whom Christ died and in whom the Spirit dwells.

It takes confrontation and brokenness and transforms the situations into intimacy through Grace. It moves people from transactional love into relational love.

VIII. Living the Symphony: A Discipleship Vision

To embody Matthew 18 is to embrace a cruciform way of life. It calls believers to lay down pride, resist self-protection, and move toward one another in humility.

It calls the offended to become shepherds, the offender to become a penitent, and the community to become a place of healing.

Such a life is costly, yet it is precisely this life that reveals the presence of Christ among His people. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us, the Christian needs another Christian “for the sake of Jesus Christ.”¹³ Matthew 18 gives concrete form to that need.

In a fractured world, a reconciled church becomes a living apologetic—a visible sign that the kingdom of God has broken into history.

Conclusion: The Church as a Symphony of Grace

Matthew 18 does not merely provide a process for handling conflict; it offers a vision of a people who live in relational harmony under the lordship of Christ.

It calls the church to become a symphony of grace—a community where dissonance is not ignored but shepherded into harmony, where sin is confronted but always for the sake of restoration, and where unity is guarded as a sacred trust.

IT STARTS WITH ME

Where such a community exists, Christ is present.
Where reconciliation is practiced, the gospel is proclaimed.
Where harmony is restored, the kingdom is revealed.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding hamartanō as relational and covenantal misalignment reshape our approach to conflict in the church?
In what ways does the concept of symphoneō challenge individualistic approaches to unity, prayer, and decision-making?
How can a culture of “positive shepherding” and edification transform the way offenses are interpreted and addressed within a congregation?
What safeguards are necessary to ensure that the authority of “binding and loosing” is exercised faithfully and not abusively?
What concrete practices can your community adopt to move from relational dissonance to genuine covenant harmony?

Bibliography

Allison, Dale C. Matthew: A Shorter Commentary. London: T&T Clark, 2004.
Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. NAC. Nashville: B&H, 1992.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. New York: Harper & Row, 1954.
Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991.
France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.
Ince, Irwyn L. The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best. Downers Grove: IVP, 2020.
Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
Luz, Ulrich. Matthew 8–20. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.
Moen, Skip. “Four-Part Harmony.” https://skipmoen.com/2014/02/four-part-harmony/.
Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.
Wright, N. T. Matthew for Everyone. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004.
Choi, Ray. “Binding and Loosing.” https://raychoi.org/2025/05/13/binding-and-loosing/.
AOR Hope. “Misapplications of Matthew 18:15–20.” https://www.aorhope.org/post/misapplications-of-matthew-18-15-20.
Courtier, Dean. “Restoring Relationships the Biblical Way.” SermonCentral.
Bible Remnant. “Matthew 18 Commentary.” https://bible-remnant.com/new-testament-bible-books/matthew/chapter-18/.

Footnotes

Lev 19:17; cf. Craig S. Keener, Matthew, 452–455.
Ulrich Luz, Matthew 8–20 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 430–435.
1QS 5–7; cf. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 782–790.
BDAG, s.v. “ἁμαρτάνω.”
R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 690.
John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 748.
BDAG, s.v. “συμφωνέω.”
Craig S. Keener, Matthew, 456–458.
Davies and Allison, Matthew, 787–790.
Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew (Nashville: B&H, 1992), 278–280.
Dale C. Allison, Matthew, 314.
Irwyn L. Ince, The Beautiful Community (Downers Grove: IVP, 2020), 45–62.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), 23–26.

Seminary Discipleship

Posted by expedition44 on September 23, 2025

When you harmonize the gospels, you likely come to the conclusion that Jesus called the disciples 3x. The last time He gets very specific and asks them to leave everything on the beach, don’t look back, stay with Me completely and “walk” completely with Me. In our modern Western world this first century calling to discipleship seems almost impossible. I have spent my whole life challenging myself and other people to this level of discipleship, and I am just about convinced that in modern America people just aren’t willing. I have found one exception… seminary training. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with all seminary experiences but at The King’s Commission (TKC) we believe that this is the closest pathway to what first century discipleship under Jesus would have looked like. Study daily, be mentored, read, listen, discuss, dive deep into a community that is likeminded to experience the full breadth (completeness) of Jesus and the Church.

What a time it must have been, when Jesus shared his words and heart with his disciples (students) for the three years of his earthly ministry! They saw his compassionate healings, marveled at his miraculous power, listened to his word, saw his glory (Matt. 17:1-13), were humbled by his servant-leadership (Matt. 20:25-28, John 13:1-20). We believe you can still experience that same feeling with Jesus through TKC.

Seminary is something similar to those three years with Jesus. In many ways, of course, it is different. Jesus didn’t need to teach his disciples how to read Hebrew and Greek. He didn’t need to teach them post-canonical church history, because at the time there wasn’t any. And although he didn’t give letter grades, he regularly evaluated their progress. TKC has sought to stay as true to this dynamic model as possible.

Discipleship is about commitment, not to a program or a pattern but to the person of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps one of the Western world modern challenges we face is to see seminary throughout the context of discipleship rather than simply education. Seminary is more than academic training; it is a spiritual journey. The Latin “seminarium” or “seedbed”—captures the deeper purpose: cultivating hearts that bear spiritual fruit. Seminary, properly pursued, fosters a “taproot” in believers—vertical depth before horizontal spread—so lives become steadier, more rooted, and more fruit-bearing.

A testimony from one of the students that Dr. Ryan has discipled and now is regularly involved with in local church ministry, Paul Lazzaroni:

My own seminary experience (Paul) shifted my perspective. The draw to a deeper understanding of the scriptures came simply from a hunger to know Christ more. After a previous failed attempt at a well-known Bible College, 7 years later I was invited to apply at seminary. It wasn’t until I handed in some of my first course work that my understanding of seminary began to shift from simply retaining information to spiritual transformation. My advisor challenged me not just to retain facts but to articulate why I believed what I believed. That invitation to integrate intellect and devotion opened a deeper adoration for Christ. Many Western educational systems emphasize information retention; seminary (like Hebraic Torah study) invites transformation, not mere accumulation of facts.

For me, this wasn’t just a different way of seeing education, this was a journey down a path that the early disciples took with Jesus.

Hebraic culture treated study as a spiritual discipline linked to life and covenant faithfulness. Torah study functioned as devotion and formation, shaping how people lived before the LORD. From Eden through Sinai to Jesus, Scripture consistently calls for faithful allegiance expressed in obedience and transformed hearts. The word seminary itself is not nearly as old as the scriptures, but the heart behind the journey through seminary ties directly into the first and greatest commandment of Jesus “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Mat 22:37

The word seminary (seminarium) means “seed bed”. Even our word semen finds its origins here. Semen without an egg to fertilize is a source of life that is seeking a host. Humankind is designed to replicate the source of life that heals, that restores, and that multiplies that which gives life, but the spirit of God needs a seed bed and Jesus himself consistently goes back to talking about the heart of the matter as though this is the seed bed of the human being.

Paul’s example in the New Testament reinforces this same type of spiritual journey. Despite his rigorous education as Saul, his encounter with Christ began a multi-year (14) process of spiritual formation (Acts 9; Galatians 1). Conversion was a beginning that required unlearning, relearning, and sustained growth. Seminary can be that structured season of deepening, where encounter and study mature into faithful living.

Over centuries, what ought to be a life-changing journey of spiritual study has sometimes become a path to prestige, income, or institutional advancement. From the establishment of the early church, there has been a slow evolution away from this type of devotion towards educational advancement. In the 15^th and 16^thcentury, the church experienced a large pivot deeper into the intellectual moving further away from the spiritual journey. This pivot began with a bold, spirit led move by Martin Luther to stand up against the hierarchical system that the Catholic Church had established, however much of what we still experience today is a war of the minds. The downfall of humanity began when we attempted to reason through all the things of life without the spirit of God. In doing so, we give up is the divine journey with Jesus himself as the teacher. When theological training serves personal gain rather than formation, the church loses its capacity to cultivate compassionate, faithful leaders—gardeners rather than dictators. Seminary must resist reducing theology to a résumé item; it should invite humility, compassion, and a lifelong devotion to learning and obedience.

For those of us who have had simply one encounter with Jesus, we know that it was a profound spiritual moment. My prayer would be that there was a flame that was lit. If you have yet to do so, seek out the fan that ignites that flame. Over the centuries, what was meant to be the most incredible journey of our lives by means of study, has transformed into hierarchical astuteness for the advancement of primarily worldly pursuits. This transformation of higher education has led to the creation of many learning systems that operate without spiritual context and in my opinion simultaneously void the presence and power of the spirit of God.

If seminary is understood as a seedbed for spiritual formation, it belongs to any disciple who wants to deepen devotion, understanding, and faithful practice—not only to those who pursue clerical office. It equips Christians to study Scripture faithfully (hermeneutics and exegesis), to integrate head and heart, and to live a long-haul obedience that reflects covenant faithfulness. This is the direct invitation from Jesus, the ancient of days, the word become flesh, the author and perfecter of life. Let us not waste our eternal invitation to follow in the dust of him. I pray the path of Yahweh draws many into this kind of lifelong study and devotion.

Written by Dr. Will Ryan and Paul Lazzaroni

The Church Hustle

Posted by expedition44 on May 31, 2025

How the church creates a treadmill that exhausts disciples instead of shepherding in peace

There’s a certain kind of Christian exhaustion that doesn’t come from the world, It comes from the church. Maybe you have experienced this. I have been a part of several church plants. The first one was in a local HS and was “church out of a truck.” It took 3 hours to setup and a couple hours to break down. It stole our best energy that should have been used for shepherding. I vowed to never do that again. Or maybe you started attending a church and wondered “what is next?” or tasked the staff “how do I get to know people deeper here?” and were answered with something to the shape of, “start serving!” At times the kingdom does require tribulation, toil, and simply work; but it shouldn’t send mixed messages with the primary pursuit of the church to shepherd.

I call it the church hustle.

It’s what happens when discipleship becomes a to-do list. When spiritual growth gets measured by the offering plate, perfect attendance, your service record, or how many books you’ve read or podcasts you have listened to and reported back to your pastor this year. Barna says this is the number one reason people don’t trust churches.¹

It’s the creeping pressure that says: If I just try harder, God will finally be pleased with me.

have you experienced this feeling? A subtle uncertainty that your church wants more of your assets when you are just hoping to be shepherded? We rarely say it that plainly. But we’ve felt it.
The unspoken message: You’re not quite there yet… but maybe if you pray more, serve more, repent better, or climb the next ladder, you’ll get there. Is that the message the church is sending?

Spiritual Capitalism in Disguise

Richard Rohr (you might remember him from our liminal spaces post) recently named this dynamic with piercing clarity. He calls it “spiritual capitalism”, the belief that we can somehow earn our way to spiritual success.² Spiritual Capitalism has shaped American churches, political movements, and personal financial strategies. It views free-market capitalism as divinely sanctioned and tells people that if they work hard, give enough, and believe enough, wealth and deeper spiritual alignment will follow.³

This kind of thinking is far from the texture of shepherding in the Bible. It creates a theology of pressure. A treadmill masked as discipleship and will burn out our body dynamics with things that have very little kingdom methodology.

How the Hustle Gets Into Us

We’ve spiritualized the very mindset Jesus came to free us from.⁴ We say we believe in grace, but we measure ourselves by performance. We don’t view grace as a reciprocal unending gift to be accepted and returned in the way we live out the love of Jesus. We talk about love, but we form people through fear.
We preach mercy, but we disciple for control.

Have you experienced this, pressure confused with passion, and metrics confused with maturity. I’ve seen people carry deep shame for not living up to standards God never asked them to meet and it is devastating to people’s spiritual identity and the mission of the church.

And even now, in a much healthier rhythm, I still catch myself slipping into hustle-mode, believing that if I don’t produce enough, lead well enough, or fix everything around me, I’m somehow less worthy.

This isn’t the way of Jesus.

NOTE: There is of course a need to live out Jesus in your gifts and that includes serving in a church context. We need that and we need it in a better context for shepherding and discipleship.

Jesus Didn’t Hustle

The life of Christ was many things, urgent at times, disruptive often. but never frenzied.⁵ He lived in a sacred sense of shalom. Never performative. Jesus didn’t hustle His way to holiness.⁶ He moved at the speed of Love.

When He invites us to “take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls,” He isn’t calling us to a hustle. He’s offering us a different kind of shepherding, one marked by humility, mercy, and presence. Follow this link for more on that kind of leading.

But so many churches, while preaching grace, disciple people in fear.

We build cultures where burnout is seen as faithfulness.
We equate spiritual growth with spiritual productivity.
We tell people God loves them… and then hand them a list to prove it.

No wonder people are walking away.

The Myth of Perfection

Rohr also names the damage done by misreading Matthew 5:48: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We turned that into a mandate for moral flawlessness instead of what it really is: a call to boundless love.⁷

Perfection, in Jesus’ language, isn’t about never messing up.
It’s about expanding love beyond what seems reasonable, even to enemies.
It’s about letting God’s perfection flow through us, not manufacturing it ourselves.⁸

But we turned it into a weight. And people carried it until they broke.

I don’t preach alot but here is a sermon on a better view of perfection.

Grace is the Exit Ramp

If you’ve been hustling, hear me clearly:
You can stop.

You don’t have to climb your way into God’s love.
You don’t have to earn your way into grace.
You don’t have to be perfect to be held.

The church doesn’t need more hustlers.
It needs more people who are learning to rest in grace and be formed by love.

You can step off the treadmill.
You can fall into mercy.
You can breathe again.⁹

What Formation Could Be

Spiritual formation isn’t about spiritual accomplishment. It’s not about reaching a higher rung. It’s about becoming more open, more surrendered, more grounded in your belovedness. More transparent before God and those you are in covenant with.¹⁰

It looks like…

Slowing down enough to hear the voice of Love again.
Releasing shame-based religion for grace-centered transformation.
Letting prayer become presence, not performance.
Trusting that you are loved, not because you got it right, but because you belong to a God who is endlessly merciful.

Reflection Questions

Where have you felt pressure to perform spiritually?
How has the church hustle shaped your view of God, or yourself?
What would it look like to embrace a formation rooted in grace, not effort?
Where might Jesus be saying, “You can stop striving… and come rest”?

If you’ve been caught in the hustle, you’re not alone. And you’re not a failure. You’re tired. And grace is calling. Come down from the ladder. There’s nothing to prove. There’s only Love, waiting to catch you.

This Article was written by Dr. Will Ryan and Paul Dazet.