I’m just curious… a lot of people say “Matthew 18″ or “according to Matthew 18″ or some similar shorthand when pointing out how disputes are to be handled within the church. It’s a quick way of saying that disputes are supposed to be private affairs and not public ones, that any form of correction should be done in private first and if the person won’t listen then you escalate. As one of my old college professors used to say after outlining a traditional position he was about to challenge…

OOh, really — ?

Look at Matthew 18:15-17: