Moment to Moment (Bible blog)
Very short and sweet today.
Read 1 Kings 20:42-43, 21:20, 25-29. Then take a look at Psalm 141 and ask yourself these two questions.
1. Who has influence in my life?
2. How do I respond when I am rebuked?
May God speak to your heart today.
As a pastor, Timothy had to deal with people from a variety of ages, people older than him, people who were his peers, and people who were younger than him.
And the thing that Paul reminds him here is, “You are not Lord over these people. These are family members. Treat them as such.”
He said,
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.
Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (1 Timothy 5:1-2)
There were times when Timothy would have to confront men that were older than him.
Paul is not saying here that he should never rebuke his elders. Rather, he was to refrain from doing so harshly. To refrain from unduly upbraiding them or humiliating them.
Paul said, “Think of these men as your own father, as people deserving of respect.”
He said the same of older women, that Timothy was to treat them as if they were his own mother. He was to deal with them gently and with all honor and respect.
For the younger men, he was not to lord himself over them either, but rather to treat them as brothers.
And for the younger women, he was to be careful how he dealt with them as well.
There would probably be women that would be attracted to a godly man like Timothy. And he was to be careful to treat them as he would his own sisters, not abusing his position as pastor in any way.
It is important, though, not just for pastors to remember all this. But as members of the church, we are to think the same way. To remember that we are all one family in God.
As has often been pointed out, you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives. And in Christ, we are all family.
So don’t look down on your family members or treat them as dirt. Remember to treat each other with respect, with all purity, and above all, with love.
How are you treating your family members?
It strikes me as I look at the last part of chapter 6 and the whole of this chapter, that we see a reflection of God’s love for us in Paul’s love for the Corinthians.
Paul implored with the Corinthians in verse 2,
Make room for us in your hearts. (2 Corinthians 7:2)
Some of the Corinthians had shut Paul out of their hearts, and so Paul said, “Open your hearts to us.”
In the same way, God calls us to do the same: to open our hearts to him. To not yoke ourselves with unbelievers, but to instead walk in close fellowship with him.
Why? Because he loves us as his sons and daughters.
Paul certainly had that kind of love for the Corinthians, calling himself their spiritual father in Christ (1 Corinthians 4:15).
And as their spiritual father, he showed them the kind of love our heavenly Father has for us. Put another way, he showed them what true love is.
What is true love?
We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. (2 Corinthians 7:2b)
Would that all Christian leaders be able to say this:
That they have never intentionally or unintentionally wronged anyone.
That their teaching has led people to holiness.
And that they have never took advantage of people, taking people’s money for their own selfish gain.
Paul was one leader that could say that.
He then said,
I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. (2 Corinthians 7:3b)
True love stands by people whether in life or death. In short, they are faithful to others, no matter the circumstances.
Paul adds,
I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. (2 Corinthians 7:4)
Love believes in people. Even in the midst of his troubles with the Corinthians, Paul had boasted of them to Titus.
It appears he had told Titus, “I believe in these people. I really believe they are God’s people, and so I know that even though my words to them were hard to hear, they will repent.” (2 Corinthians 7:14)
And that’s why Paul did what love does: he spoke out words of rebuke when it was necessary.
Sometimes people avoid speaking words of rebuke. They’re afraid people will think they are unloving. And sometimes people can be unloving as they speak the truth. They are more interested in being “brutal” than being honest.
But that wasn’t Paul’s intent. His intent was that the Corinthians repent.
He didn’t desire that they be harmed by his words. Rather, he desired that they would be built up because of them (2 Corinthians 7:10).
And that’s what ultimately happened.
One of the reasons we rebuke others is to test what is in their hearts.
Paul told the Corinthians, “When I rebuked you, it wasn’t so much for the wrongdoer’s sake or for mine, even though I am the one he hurt.
Rather, I wanted to bring out what was in your heart. And you showed what was truly in your heart by your repentance.” (2 Corinthians 7:11-12)
But again, it wasn’t as if Paul didn’t believe in them and so he felt he had to test them by confronting them with their sin. Rather he believed in them and so he tested them, fully expecting them to come to repentance. And they did.
That’s love.
That’s the love Paul had for the Corinthians.
That’s the love God has for us.
That’s the love we are to have for each other.
The question is: do we have that kind of love?
There are some people that think 2 Corinthians was actually two or even more letters pieced together. Looking at this letter, I can see why, though I still believe it is one unified letter.
Still, at one turn, Paul talks about his reconciliation with the Corinthian church, and at the next he talks about his remaining troubles with it.
The reason for this is probably that while the majority of the church had indeed repented, there were still a number of people there that had their reservations about Paul and his credentials as an apostle. The question is why?
Paul says here,
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.
We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.
As a fair exchange–I speak as to my children–open wide your hearts also. (2 Corinthians 6:11-13)
Paul essentially says, “We have been nothing but open with you. We’ve laid our hearts all on the table for you. And yet, you still withhold your affections from us.”
The ESV translates verse 12 this way,
You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. (2 Corinthians 6:12)
The latter translation is more literal, and while a bit more obscure in meaning than the NIV, is much less interpretive.
While the NIV’s interpretation may be correct, I actually think what Paul is saying is this:
You may find it difficult to open your hearts to us because of how we’ve dealt with you.
“You may think us harsh for how we’ve dealt with you and the sinners and false apostles among you. You may feel like we have shut you out by doing so.
But really you have shut yourself in because of the things that you are holding on to.
You’re holding on to your sin. You’re holding on to these relationships with these false teachers. You’re holding on to idols in your life.
And so when we rebuke you for these things, you shut us out. These things you cling to are what’s keeping you from opening your hearts to us.”
How about you? What holds your hearts?
Sometimes, people leave the church and the fellowship of believers. Or they may have a falling out with someone they once considered a close brother or sister.
And one reason is that these brothers and sisters have rebuked them for their sin. As a result, they feel rejected by those who have rebuked them.
Being rebuked by fellow Christians can be hard. And unfortunately, sometimes, Christians can go too over the top in their rebuke, failing to rebuke with gentleness. (Galatians 6:1)
I do wonder if perhaps even Paul had failed in this respect concerning the Corinthians.
He was a sinner too after all, and he had had previous failings in his personal dealings with Mark, for example. (Acts 15:36-39)
Nevertheless, Paul truly loved the Corinthians. But because of his rebuke and the Corinthians’ own wrongful affections, they failed to see the love he had for them and shut him out.
So my question is this: Can we see beyond the painful words of our brothers and sisters, recognize sin in our lives, and release these things we are holding on to?
Or are we so in love with these things that it causes us to reject further fellowship with those who love us?
In short, how do you respond to rebuke in your life?
Nobody likes to be rebuked. To be told you’re wrong. But how do you respond when you are?
The Pharisees followed the long line of their ancestors throughout Israel’s history. Instead of listening and repenting when rebuked, they turned on those sent to them.
They turned on Jesus, murdering him, and they turned on his disciples, all the while claiming that they would never have murdered the prophets that their ancestors murdered long before.
And so Jesus said,
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. (Matthew 23:33-36)
Jesus then wept, saying,
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (Matthew 23:37-39)
And that’s what happened. Within a generation of the people that murdered Christ, Israel fell, their beloved temple demolished until this very day.
What happens when we reject those God sends to us to rebuke us? Ultimately, our lives will fall apart. And we will be judged.
God takes no pleasure in this. He weeps over it. But there can be no life, there can be peace until we acknowledge him as Lord over all in our lives.
Solomon wrote,
Faithful are the wounds of a friend. (Proverbs 27:6, NASB)
The truth can hurt. It can be painful to hear. But if we take it to heart, it can bring healing.
What do you do when you are rebuked?
I mentioned in the last blog that while Jesus warns us against hypocritical judging, he does call us to rebuke people who are in sin.
But when we do so, we should keep something else in mind: who we’re rebuking.
Jesus says here,
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)
What is Jesus saying here? He’s saying that there are some people you are just wasting your breath with if you try to rebuke them.
They simply don’t want to hear what God has to say, and if you try to tell them, they’ll rip you apart. So Jesus says, “Don’t bother.”
Solomon put it this way,
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. (Proverbs 9:8)
This is also true in sharing the gospel.
There are some people that you share the gospel with, and instead of being receptive or interested, they simply mock you. In that case, leave that person in the hands of God. You did your job.
The responsibility now lies with that person to do something with the Word you’ve given them. You are not required to keep tossing them the pearls of the gospel.
It can be hard to watch a person you love mock the gospel. Or harden their hearts to the word of God.
But once you’ve done your responsibility and shared his Word with them, if they reject it and make it clear that they don’t want to hear it, there’s nothing left to do but pray for them. Because at that point, only God can change their hearts, not you.
Who are you casting your pearls to?
I remember a time in my life when I was still walking with the Lord, and I was still going to church, but I had started to neglect fellowship in a small group.
My small group had broken up amicably for various reasons, and with me considering leaving for Japan soon, I decided not to join another one.
Time passed, however, and the doors to Japan (for a time) closed. Even so, I still didn’t get back into fellowship with a small group.
Eventually, the Lord spoke to my heart, and said, “Isn’t it about time you got back into fellowship?” And so I did.
Later on, I was talking with one of my former small group members and told her I had joined another small group. She told me, “I’m really glad to hear that. I was a little worried about you.”
I said, “Really? Then why didn’t you say anything?”
She answered, “I figured you must be okay.”
I suppose one of the downsides to being a “mature” Christian is that people tend to assume you’re okay even when you’re not.
And I told my friend, “The next time you’re worried about me, say something. I may or may not listen at first, but if it’s from God, he will get my attention.”
As I told my friend, I can be hardheaded at times. I don’t always listen at first. But time and again, God has used my friends to get my attention.
Sometimes though, that isn’t pleasant. Our friends point out something in our lives that isn’t right and we become defensive. We get hurt. And we think, “How could they say that?”
But Solomon writes,
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:5–6)
In other words, if your friends truly care about you, they will confront you if you’re wrong.
People who don’t really care, on the other hand, will just be content to leave you as you are.
It is so important to have friends who will be honest with you. Who, when you are in trouble, won’t just say things to encourage you, but will give you godly advice as well.
As Solomon said,
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,
and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. (9–10)
But this cuts both ways. Just as friends can help us grow as people, we are to help them grow through our words and our actions.
Solomon tells us,
As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another. (17)
The question is, do you have those kinds of friends?
Do you have friendships where you mutually sharpen one another? Where you can say the difficult things to each other?
Or do you have “friends” who only tell you what you want to hear?
What kind of friends do you have?
Some people mistake God’s love and acceptance of us with a license to sin. They think, “God accepts me anyway, so why change? Why not live the way I want?”
But in this passage, we see that a wise person is willing to change.
This chapter starts and ends with two calls. One is a call from Wisdom, who prepares her house for us and invites us in, saying,
Let all who are simple come in here…
Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of understanding. (Proverbs 9:4–5)
So many people are living ignorant of the consequences of their actions. They naively think that everything will work out all right just living the way that they are.
But all the while, the path they’re taking is leading them to pain and ultimately, death.
Wisdom cries out, “Don’t just stay the way you are! Leave your naive ways. I’ve got something better for you, that will give you life.”
The woman Folly, however, says,
Let all who are simple come in here…
Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious! (16–17)
In other words, “Continue living the way you are. Sin is sweet. It’s tasty and brings delight.”
What kind of person are you? Are you willing to change?
God does indeed love you as you are. But he loves you far too much to just leave you in the mud pile that you have been living in.
Solomon writes,
Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. (7–9)
Jesus put it this way,
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)
Jesus says don’t give the mocker (“dogs” or “pigs”) the pearls of wisdom you have, because they won’t appreciate it. Rather, they’ll just tear into you.
If on the other hand, you give your pearls to the wise, Solomon says that they’ll become wiser still.
The question we need to ask ourselves, however, is, “Are we wise? Or are we mere dogs and pigs?”
When people rebuke you, how do you take it? Do you take some time to reflect on what they say? Or do you just throw it back in their faces?
Are you humble enough to accept correction from others? More than that, are you humble enough to accept correction from God?
Only in humbling ourselves before him and accepting his correction will we find true wisdom and true life.
As Solomon wrote,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.For through wisdom your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. (Proverbs 9:10–12)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 