EVEN IF THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY

There is at least one other way a Luke 17:3 confrontation could go wrong. It's not even hinted at by Jesus in the passage, but I know it from personal experience. What if, when we rebuke a brother or sister who has sinned against us, the opposite of repentance and reconciliation occur? What if they dig in their heels and cover their tracks?

Here's my experience in vague terms: This person was doing some passive-aggressive posting on Facebook and it was pretty thinly veiled. A mutual friend had alerted me to the situation. The circumstances necessitated that my rebuke had to take place via text messaging, and maybe that was a mistake.

From my perspective, I had only the best intentions toward the "offender". I desired reconciliation and a better relationship moving forward. I thought my approach was gentle and that it even allowed this fellow believer to express their own point of view and any hurt that may have brought about the Facebook post.

Instead, the response was dismissive and filled with rather blatant lies. I was told I had misunderstood - the posting was innocent. Nothing to see here.

I pushed back a bit because it drives me crazy to have someone lie to me. But then I dropped it, allowing this person's story - and dignity - to remain intact when it became clear that repentance was not going to be forthcoming. 

I paid a heavy price for what I considered obedience to Scripture. This person (unbeknownst to me at the time) started telling others that this confrontation (which I had intended to resolve the conflict between us) had constituted nothing less than harassment! Eventually the harassment charge was taken all the way to my supervisors. 

And although my supervisors in time decided the charge of harassment had no merit, great damage was done.

Even so - and even though it cost me a lot of heartache and pain - I believe more firmly than ever that we as believers are called to obey Luke 17:3 simply because it reflects God's heart and his kingdom priorities. Jesus commands it. We have no excuses. 

And we are nowhere promised control over the outcomes.