December 23, 2015

“There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” Titus 1:10 – 16

“One who remains uncorrected, and who does not correct others, becomes like a limb which purifies, and corrupts the whole body. It is like an inept physician who, when a limb had already begun to be corrupted, placed ointment immediately upon it, without having first burnt the wound. So it is with the pastor or any other person having received the duty of care of souls, on seeing someone putrefying from the corruption of mortal sin. If one applies to him the ointment of soft words and encouragement alone, without reproof, one would never cure him…If he were a good physician who cares about those souls…he would not give comforting ointment without the fire of reproof.” (Catherine of Sienna [1347 – 1380] A Treatise of Prayer, “For All The Saints” volume III, p. 107)

I was sitting in a coffee shop the other day, and without straining much, I was privy to a conversation a mother was having with her son about his life on a college campus. It was obvious this young man has had his problems in life, but according to his own admission, he is maturing, doing well in school, trying to make amends with family and friends. One comment he made to his mother made me think – he said even though he still may be doing things that society may not approve, he is bothered by the hypocrisy that adults show him in their treatment of him, even when he knows these parents were not angels when they were his age. He is having trouble with what appears to him to be a “double standard” – the proverbial “do as I say, not as I do (or did)”.

Sometimes we are afraid to tell our children that something they are doing is wrong because we did the same thing when we were their age. This is the age old dilemma for a parent. None of us, and yes I speak with a broad brush here, but most of us would not want our children to repeat the same mistakes we made. And, as parents, we should reprove, correct, and guide our children as best we can. Maintaining the attitude that “well I did it when I was their age so why shouldn’t they” may be ok in some circumstances, but may not be for others. We need to maintain discerning minds when we are correcting our children. And, the same can be true with our fellow Christians in the church. Some behaviors need to be corrected – or at least pointed out – and yes, in doing so, we run the risk of someone pulling out Matthew 7:3: Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? In fact, my own son has used this scripture on me. But that did not stop me from saying my peace – whether hypocritical or not – my job is to reprove. And if that brings to light my own hypocrisy, so be it. I cannot shirk my responsibility for correcting just because I am human, sinful, and prone to making mistakes.

Pastor Dave