and should repent. He should confess his sin not only to God, who already knows of it from observation, but also to God’s visible organization through its local theocratically appointed servants. It is a critical time to seek reconciliation with God and his people through Christ, appealing for mercy. In harmony with this, the Scriptural advice is: “Is there anyone [spiritually] sick among you? Let him call the older men of the congregation to him, and let them pray over him, rubbing him with oil in the name of Jehovah. And the prayer of faith will make the indisposed one well, and Jehovah will raise him up. Also if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him. Therefore openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may get healed.” (Jas. 5:14-16) This course of self-humiliation and confession of spiritual need assists the sinner to reconciliation with God. It helps him to keep strict watch thereafter on how he walks before God.

Helpers Toward Walking Wisely

1. How must overseers carry out the command of Isaiah 58:1, and how does Matthew 18:15 set a course for them?

SPIRITUAL overseers must watch strictly how the congregations under their charge walk or conduct themselves. It is not enough to carry out the command of Isaiah 58:1 with reference only to Christendom: “Call out full-throated; do not hold back. Raise your voice just like a trumpet, and tell my people their transgression. and the house of Jacob [Israel] their sins.’ The theocratic overseers should not merely call attention to sinfulness in the enemy organization of Christendom. They must be impartial, balanced and just in applying a principle. Hence they must call attention to any transgressions and sins even in the congregations over which they have the oversight. If the overseer observes some offense or receives the report of some offense committed by any member against the congregation, then the overseer has something against the offender; for what affects the congregation affects him. He must investigate the matter and take steps concerning it in the spirit of Matthew 18:15: “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go lay bare his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”

2. In that case, what does the congregation servant have the right and obligation to do, and what is the primary purpose of such action?

² Accordingly the congregation servant, together with the other members of the congregation service committee, has the right and is under obligation to summon the offender, or apparent offender, in order to come to a factual understanding of what has gone on. He must establish directly the guilt or guiltlessness of the apparent offender and discover any grounds for disfellowshiping, if any truly exist. The primary purpose of this is to keep God’s visible organization of his sheep clean and safe from a spread of sinfulness. The recovery of the offender is secondary.—Deut. 13:12-18.

3. When summoned, what should any accused brother do because of the criticalness of the time?

³ On the other hand, some member of the congregation may be accused of conduct deserving of his being disfellowshiped. When he is summoned for a fair, honest hearing before the accusing witnesses, it is not the time for him to justify himself and for him to refuse to present himself. It is an urgent time for the accused one to seek reconciliation with his disturbed brothers. It is a time, not for self-vindication in one’s own opinion, but for seeking unity with the organization by a clearing up of all misunderstandings or a correcting of matters. The accused one should not be stubborn in his own self-righteousness, like a strongly fortified town. “A brother transgressed against is more than a strong town, and there are contentions that are like the bar of a dwelling tower.” (Prov. 18:19) If anyone merely becomes aware that the brothers have something against him, it should cause him to make speed to straighten out the matter, especially if he really proves to be the sinner in the case.

4, 5. (a) Pertinent to that, what did Jesus say in his sermon on the mountain? (b) What did that saying of Jesus mean, and what does anyone do by ignoring it?

⁴ In his sermon on the mountain Jesus said: “If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar and you there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go away; first make your peace with your brother, and then, when you have come back, offer up your gift. Be about settling matters quickly with the one complaining against you at law, while you are with him on the way there.”—Matt. 5:23-25.

⁵ First after one has done everything possible to satisfy justice and to right the wrong here on earth with his fellow men, first then is he in a right condition to offer sacrifice to God and to find acceptance with him. In accord with this it is written: “The sacrifice of the wicked ones is something detestable to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright ones is a pleasure to him.” (Prov. 15:8; 21:27) Let no one deceive himself by ignoring this fact.

6. What should a peace-seeking brother be willing to do under accusation, and why should he not be self-justifying and resisting?

⁶ In eagerness to keep or to restore right relations with his brothers and his God, a dedicated Christian should desire and be willing to hear the complaint that is made against him, in order to find out whether he himself is really at fault. The very fact that he has caused his brothers to take some offense should fill him with concern. It should make him want to correct misunderstandings or correct matters. He should not bristle up indignantly and retort: “If they do not like what I do, why should I worry? I know I am innocent and am doing no wrong. If they want to make evil out of it, that shows their wrong condition of heart. I do not give a snap of my fingers for what they think.” Such a resistant, unyielding, self-justifying attitude does not make for peace and harmony in the congregation. It is a foolish attempt to answer a matter before personally hearing it, to know the other’s viewpoint. Proverbs 18:13 cautions us, saying: “When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his part and a humiliation.”

SELF-JUSTIFICATION NOT GOOD

7. Why is his own presentation of the matter first in the case not enough, and what should he do to others who are disturbed about him?

⁷ A person may feel that he is guiltless. From his own presentation of his side of