Accountability first...

Matthew 18:15-20 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” As Jesus is talking to His disciples about how to run the Church, He promises them authority to carry out decisions, much like the Sanhedrin, which included the Scribes and Pharisees, had in their society. But the emphasis was not on the power entrusted to them, but the mutual accountability they had to watch out for one another. The authority was given to keep relationships in order. They were to have a heart for one another which would keep any authority or power from going to their heads and getting out of hand. The community of Christ is not an institution with levels of hierarchy, but a band of believers intimately living in harmony.