Love Reproving # 4

Love Reproving # 4

Is it possible to be too critical of Christians? It is certainly possible to expect too much from them - and then be irritated because they fail to produce what we look for. If our thoughts be governed by Scripture, which declares, "We all stumble in many ways? (James 3:2); if we bear in mind the frailties - some of them glaring ones - of the most eminent characters mentioned in the Word; if we constantly remind ourselves of how far short we come of the standard God has set before us - then we ought to be preserved from looking for anything approaching perfection in Christians. They too are men and women of "like passions" as ourselves. Hence the force of "bearing with one another in love" (Eph. 4:2); yet that must not be twisted into "winking at one another's faults" or condoning sin - under the pretense of love.

No, we cannot "always tell" whether a professing Christian is a regenerate or unregenerate person, and therefore it behooves us to be cautious and conservative, lest we be guilty of giving that which is holy - unto dogs (Matt. 7:6). It is a very serious and solemn matter to encourage a deluded soul in his deception, as we do when we lead him to believe that we regard him as a Christian. But how is this to be avoided? By a withholding the tokens of fellowship; for example, refusing to address as brother or sister - from all whom we stand in doubt of, especially from those whose walk is manifestly worldly and contrary to the precepts of Scripture. While we cannot read the hearts of those we mix with - we can test their outward life by the Word, and if its general tenor is opposed to the requirements of holiness, and is contrary to the example of Christ - we certainly are not warranted in regarding them as children of God.

Certainly we should be "loving" in rebuking sin. It is in love, that God chastens His people, that they "might be partakers of His holiness" (Heb. 12:6, 10). We are bidden to "speak the Truth in love," and Christ was doing so - as truly when denouncing the pharisees in Matthew 23 - as when He was comforting His disciples in John 14. But does that mean that His countenance, the tone of His voice, or His general bearing was the same? He ever spoke the Truth in love - but if some would re-read the four Gospels with this particular thought in mind - it might cause them to revise, or at least modify their present conception of what "speaking the truth in love" really is. Something depends upon the particular fault committed. Mole hills are not to be magnified into mountains. There are times when it is fitting to rebuke "sharply" (Titus 1:13), as Christ did in Luke 24:25. But for the most part, it should be done in "the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). There is a happy medium between harshness and firmness, as there is between sentimentality and tenderness.

We know of a small church, far removed from these parts, the pastor and members of which are seeking to act one toward another in a spirit and manner which we deem highly commendable. Its minister tells us "I have never seen a congregation more pliable to the Word of God, more willing to rectify wrongs - endeavoring to walk as Christ would have them walk. Each member is interviewed by the joint-elders group concerning their position listed in the church discipline; and further, each one applying for membership specifies that it is his desire to have a pastor who will deal with the sin problems of that member, as a shepherd would the problems of the sheep." That admirably expresses our own convictions - love ministering to the needy - as a shepherd to the sheep.

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)