"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault"

Generally, we don’t like to be criticized.  In whatever way it comes to us, if it’s from our boss or supervisor, a close friend or family member, we usually don’t like being criticized, and we don’t like it because, bottom line, we don’t like to be corrected.  We always like to think we’ve got everything together, and it feels like any criticism violates my own individualism and ego.  Rather than allowing humility receive it, our pride kicks in and we react negatively.  On the flip side, while we don’t like to receive criticism, for some it’s also hard to give criticism.  We can be afraid of offending the other person. We might be more concerned about hurting the relationship with that person rather than saying what needs to be said, and so, we choose to remain silent.
 
Yet, there are times when criticism is necessary for growth, to help improve our lives, and to make sure we stay on the right track.  Coaches have to critique their athletes to help them excel in their sport.  Good teachers have to critique their students to help them learn the material.  
 
Obviously, I bring this up because our Scripture readings for this Sunday are about criticism.  The readings tell us of God’s command of spiritual responsibility and accountability that all of us have to our neighbor – family members, friends, our community both in society and in the church.

Jesus gives this as part of our mission.  He’s counting on us to help our brothers and sisters in the faith to follow in his footsteps, to encourage them when they are doing well and to help them when they are going off the path that Jesus asks us to follow. However, just because Jesus says that this is part of our mission as Christians, doesn’t mean that we have the license to go around and rip people apart.  I’m sure we’ve all come across someone who just feels very free to criticize everything, and just doesn’t seem capable of saying anything good about another person.  
 
Criticism that’s harsh, negative, and belittling defeats the very purpose of Christian living.  It’s damaging not only to the person being criticized but also undermines what Jesus is calling us to do.  We want to offer growth, not discouragement.  We want to build up, not put down. 
 
This is a mission given to us by Jesus that has to come from real love, as St. Paul points out.  “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” “Love does no evil to the neighbor.” And as you all know, loving in that capacity is not always easy, and to love someone in the way that God wants us to might mean at times correcting them, showing them the way to what is good.  That’s the example that Jesus gives us. His love for us led to his crucifixion and his death, to show the detriment of sin.  

Criticizing and correcting in our context is not meant to win an argument, to prove that I’m right and you’re wrong.  The whole point is to bring about a greater communion with Jesus.  It’s what our Lord is getting at in the practical steps he lays out in the Gospel.  “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.”  If someone has wronged you, talk to that person.  By not saying anything, what happens? How easy it is to allow that hurt grow inside of us and how it can cloud our thinking and actions. We gossip and slander, and do all sorts of other things except the one thing that is good, and that’s to go and talk to that person.
 
If that doesn’t work, Jesus says, “Take one or two others along with you.”  But that doesn’t mean ganging up on that person and force that person to admit to their wrong, but that the added witness and the love shown can help put things in a clearer light. And then finally Jesus says, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church,” to those who can join you in prayer, and to help show what is good when it comes to our salvation.  There are those today who would just wish that the Church would be silent when it comes to certain issues, but the Church has her mission to carry out God’s love in the world, and at times it has to be a “tough love” to emphasize what is good for our salvation and to help us stay on that path that Jesus has shown us.  
 
So, we have these readings to remind us that we have a clear duty to make ourselves responsible for others’ actions.  Ezekiel says that if we do not warn others of their evil ways we will be held responsible for their spiritual death. The Gospel is the same thing.  And, the reason we’re given these readings is to really help us live out what we’re all about.  We love God and we desire to show that love to our neighbor, even in those moments when it is hard, and with God’s help, we know that anything that is done out of love will bear much fruit and to bring about a greater communion with each other and with God.