Reconcile, then bring your gift
Jesus on interrupted worship
Jesus says something startling about worship: if you are bringing your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there, go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Reconciliation takes priority even over worship. God would rather you interrupt your offering to mend a broken relationship than complete the ritual with the breach unhealed.
It reveals how seriously God takes the relationships between his people. A leader cannot be right with God while willfully wrong with a brother; the vertical and the horizontal are connected. Notice too the trigger — your brother has something against you. Jesus does not say wait until you feel wronged; he says if you remember that someone holds something against you, you take the initiative to reconcile, even if you believe you are the injured party. The pursuit of reconciliation is the leader's to start.
“He who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
— John, on loving your brother — 1 John 4:20 (WEB)
Reconciliation takes priority even over worship. You cannot be right with God while willfully wrong with a brother, and the pursuit of reconciliation is yours to start.
“leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Jesus ties being right with God to being right with people. A leader formed here takes the initiative to reconcile, even when he believes he is the injured party. The inner work is refusing to let a known breach sit unaddressed.
When you remember someone has something against you, go and make it right before anything else. Take the first step toward reconciliation rather than waiting to feel wronged. Treat broken relationships as urgent, not background.
Leaders continue their religious and professional routines while known breaches go unaddressed. The blind spot is assuming the offended party must come first, when Jesus says you go.
Name one person who has something against you. This week, take the initiative to go and be reconciled.
God would rather you interrupt your worship to mend a broken relationship than finish the ritual with the breach unhealed — and the trigger is when someone has something against you, not just when you feel wronged.
Who has something against you that you have been leaving unaddressed?