A thought flowing in the Christian stream says that questioning another’s behavior or self-discipline or spiritual habits is judgmental, and worse, indicates you have abandoned grace: if you rebuke me, you are living under the law, and putting me under the law. It is the cry, “Don’t judge me!,” and is often followed by “If you ask hard questions, people will leave the church.”
Aren’t we underestimating churchgoers? Do employees collapse in tears when supervisors question their work? Are students too brittle to receive anything but perfect scores? Should mentors be “rebuked” for correcting young recruits? No.
The teachers and coaches who pushed us the hardest are often the ones we never forget. They demanded performance on a level we never imagined—and they changed our lives forever.
Yet we argue pastors should not ask hard questions? When did we become so weak? Are we that soft? Of course not. Not only are we strong enough to answer hard questions—some us are desperate to be pushed, to be challenged.
Moreover, no less authority than the Bible’s greatest teacher of grace, the Apostle Paul, considered it his duty to rebuke believers.
He did not worry he was being “judgmental,” nor did he believe his passion for grace required him never to speak a critical word. Referring to his criticism in an earlier letter, he writes:
“Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved [by my letter], but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed…. For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation…. For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice!” 2 Corinthians 7:9-11.
You can WALK IN GRACE and still receive rebuke. You are strong enough—don’t collapse, or beat yourself up, just embrace grace and move forward with the Master.
“A wise man listens to rebuke and gains understanding” Proverbs 15:32.
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