In our brother's case, being likened to the treatment of unbelievers is an illustration not only of sin, but also of unresolved disagreement.
Fellowship has to do with commonality. 2 cor 6:14-16 says:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.
We cannot serve two masters, and being tied to men who are without understanding from God is not profitable. Therefore we no longer do activities "in commonality," with one mind.
Yet the scriptures speak to the placement of light in regard to the darkness. Matt 5:14-16 says that the light is raised up for all to see:
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
In fact, Luke 8:16-18 (below) says that the light is placed in such a way so to hold other men responsible to listen, as if to the instructions of God. The sinning brother would have greater understanding if they would permit their offended brother to hold his hearing.
"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."
So I would conclude that in the case that "your brother sins against you," and the brother refuses to hear one, refuses to hear three and then refuses to receive even the entire church, they ought to be treated as if they were an unbeliever. We are not yoked to their resolvedly ignorant points of view. However we are there in the midst of their existence, showing them the way to reconciliation by faith again in Christ and to the church and to us as individuals. We woo them with our good deeds, so they might praise the Father and choose to be intimate.
I believe... that when Jesus was commanding us in Matt 18 to regard our non-listening brother as we would the heathens, Jesus was essentially saying that we would be empowered to be as light from God to that brother.
Do you find this disagreeable or uneducated?
