God commands us to go to a brother who has offended us and confront him. The cold truth is, it usually doesn't work. One Christian author teaches that we have to get all sin out of our lives first (an unscriptural, as well as impossible, solution) Others wisely advise "Don't get offended." Others say that the "brother" might not be saved to begin with, so the command doesn't apply. Others say that you must obey the command, have a blow-up, and the situation will still improve. The cold truth is, it usually doesn't work. But for Joseph, it did.
One reason that Joseph succeeded is that he didn't do it the way we do it, and this helps explain his bizarre behavior. A primary goal of Joseph was to protect somebody else! His brother Benjamin pictures the Church, and Joseph was more motivated for Benjamin's sake than he was for anybody else's. In seeking reconciliation, we have to remember that enmity among the saints hurts the Church. The benefit of everybody has to be our goal.
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