”I happened upon a situation where one Christian brother was openly rebuking another brother. I exited quickly. I heard enough to know that nothing was being left to the imagination. He told him plainly that his continued behaviour showed arrogance and mean-spiritedness. He had caused a lot of strife in the lives of others, and it was to cease immediately. It did, praise the Lord. No one likes to be pulled-straight face to face.Tact helps, but it still smarts.Open rebuke should lay out only that which is important. Facts and opinions are to be communicated in a way which benefits all parties concerned. Normal people do not enjoy the experience.Those who do enjoy it, be it the one rebuking, or the one rebuked, should be disciplined. We rebuke because there is present behaviour inconsistent with the will and manner of the Lord—not to take opportunity to enforce personal preferences. Brethren who get a kick out of confrontation are dangerous and loveless.Love is to be known. If we cannot speak plainly to each other’s faults our friendship is useless.When rebuke is necessary, but avoided at all costs, we are holding back from each other the proper expression of love for the moment—it is kept a secret. This can take some serious readjustment in our patterns of communication.A Christian coming from a family where, though loved, show little expression of it toward one another can be overwhelmed by those who come from families where love is expressed in many overt ways.Though no one is asking for personality transplants, our brethren need to know that we do love them and always have their best interests at heart.Watching out for each other is our business. John Staiger
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