One of my disciples asked me two loaded questions. These questions brought me back to my thoughts from my old journals when I was wrestling with the same issues. First off, it's inspiring to know that the upcoming generation of youths are already wrestling with these kinds of questions. Second, I am so hopeful that God will mobilize and inspire these young leaders to become the upcoming leaders for our current generation. This blog is simply a snippet of what was shared with my disciple.
How do we preach? And how do we call people out with boldness without fear of condemnation and rejection? First off, preaching is not something we are to do ‘all the time.’ If I had a friend that always ‘preached’ to me whenever we sat down and chatted, I’d be upset. I would probably feel like a ‘mission-field’ as supposed to a friend. So HOW do we preach? Personally… I think there’s many ways to preach. Throughout scriptures, Paul, the prophets, Jesus and the disciples all had a different ‘style’ in preaching (kinda like rappers and breakdancers who have different styles in their respective practices). However, when they preached, what did they speak about? Gospel and Jesus. Furthermore, whenever Jesus preached, he was sensitive to the needs of the crowd. Example, the woman at the well needed water. Jesus preached about Himself being the ‘living water.’ Therefore, when we preach or evangelize at school, work, or at home, we need to know the needs of our peers. Perhaps they are encountering academic depression, financial difficulties, or familial issues. We should speak to these individuals while being filled with the Spirit so that His fruits may be evident over these needs (i.e. peace, patience, kindness, etc etc etc). Perhaps the issue is being sensitive to Holy Spirit. Example, allowing Holy Spirit to convict us as to when we should preach or evangelize?
How do we call people out with boldness? I’m assuming my disciple is asking me, “How do I rebuke in boldness without fear?” Just so you know, I am also struggling with this. I had to dig into my journal and see my old thoughts and revelations on this issue. First off, my disciple is right! When we rebuke, there should be no feelings of fear in offending someone or fear of rejection. From Titus 2:15 – “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”
When you call someone out on their sins (i.e. rebuke), you got to ask yourself “why” is the rebuke necessary? Rebuking someone has to be done in an act of caring for them in the hope that they will repent and be strengthened to follow Jesus. Now that I think about it, rebuking is probably one of the most loving and needed things a person can do for another. I think the issue of why so many people fear rebuking is because of the thin line that defines “rebuking” and “judging.”
Note, rebuking is NOT judging. I think that’s a lie that we’ve grown accustomed to. We need to realize that we are called to rebuke when necessary and when we do, we must do so in love and concern for one another. When we see a family member heading to destruction, are we going to sit back and watch? No – that’s just stupid. The sin of omission is like that – sinning by not doing what we should do. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to discern whether we are rebuking in love or judging in pride. I guess the key distinction that separates judging from rebuking is whether or not you want the best for that person and are you doing it out of love. To be honest, I often want to rebuke someone out of anger or hurt – that’s judging. But despite this concern, one thing clear is that rebuking IN LOVE is necessary and commanded. It makes us stronger … or at least it should.
In practical terms, before you call out someone on their sins, first make sure that they actually ‘sinned’ as supposed to doing something you didn’t like. For example, which part of scripture did they break? Remember that passage where Jesus calls us out on worrying about the speck in our brother’s eyes when we have a plank in our own eye? Note, the passage doesn’t tell us NOT to take out the speck in our brother’s eye. It says deal with our OWN sins first. This passage brings something interesting into light. If we do decide not to confront someone on their sin, is it therefore because we do not want to deal with our own sin? I’ve heard people say, “I’ve been through what he or she is going through and I understand what they’re going through so I’m going to let them figure it out on their own" - sin of omission.
Second, as pastor Tim preached, always be ready to give chance after chance after chance. The moment we begin to administer who ‘deserves’ a second chance or who does not, we have elevated ourselves above others. As God’s Word states clearly, we are not to place ourselves above others, but by following Christ’ example, consider others more important than ourselves. Now, this doesn’t mean we are to walk around claiming that others are ‘cool’ and we ‘SUCK!’ We are all under one head – Christ. No one can boast according to his or her own competency. The outcome of rebuking someone is not only repentance, but also restoration into the body of believers.
Third, if the individual you rebuked does not show signs of remorse, do not allow that to affect you. It is vital to know that God is the one who leads people to repentance. We are simply instruments. We cannot rebuke only if we believe we’ll receive a response. We must obey what God convicts and leave the results to Him.
Overall, rebuking is a difficult thing. HAHA It’s easy to say we aren’t supposed to ‘feel’ condemned or rejected when we rebuke someone. But it’s obviously difficult. We need to know who we are and realize how much Daddy loves us. We need to be a people that is sensitive to Holy Spirit and He will give us the necessary words if we need to rebuke.
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