A Defense Of Public Warning and Reproof

To wrap up this blog on public rebuke, I want to look at scriptural examples and then try to think through some of the practicalities. Remember, we have a target rich environment, so we need wisdom in the implementation of public warning and reproof.

Abundant Example

Example and imitation are important parts of discipleship. We are supposed to learn from those who lead us. In Scripture the prophets, the apostles, and Christ himself regularly called people and organizations out on their false teaching. Let us look at a few examples.

– Almost every New Testament letter that was written, which was to be read publically, contains either the names of false teachers or identifies some group that the church should know about and reject. The Corinthians were warned about a group of false apostles (2 Cor. 10-11). The Galatians were warned about the Judaizers. The Philippians were warned about the Judaizers (Phil. 3). The Colossians were warned about people who taught worship of angels and various other worldly philosophies (Col 2:16-23). The Thessalonians were warned about those who sent letters saying the day of the Lord had already happened (2 Thess. 2). The second letter to Timothy contains 7 names of false teachers. The letter to Titus identifies the Cretans and the Jews. James calls out the rich. 1 John speaks regularly about false teachers and a particular group that left the church. 3 John calls out Diotrephes. 2 Peter and Jude calls out false teachers. It is abundantly clear that the apostles did not hesitate to publically confront dangerous false teaching and the people who brought it.

– John the Baptist called out the Pharisees and was jailed and beheaded because he confronted the adultery of Herod.

– On numerous occasions Paul publicly renounced the Jews and their hard-heartedness as well as their Judaizing ways (Acts 13:46-48; 15:1-2; 18:27-28; 28:24-29).

– The prophets were constantly calling out various threats to God’s people, and often doing it with stinging satire. It should be noted that the most common target of the public rebuke was the religious people of the day. Isaiah called out the women of Israel who flaunt their wealth (Is. 3:16-24) and the idol makers (40:19-20; 41:6-7; 44:9-20). Jeremiah called out the Kings, princes, and priests (1:17-18) as well as the worshippers at the temple (7:2). Ezekiel called out the spiritual shepherds of Israel (Ezek. 34). Amos called out the women of Bashan (Amos 4:1). Both Hosea and Malachi called out the priests (Hos. 4; Mal. 1-2).

– In the life of Christ we constantly see Jesus not just confronting the Pharisees, but also purposely poking them in the eye so to speak, especially regarding their man-made laws about the Sabbath. He would heal and eat and refuse to wash properly just to make a point against their false teachings. Additionally, even after His resurrection and ascension, Jesus verbally commended the public opposition that churches brought against various groups, and rebuked churches who didn’t do that. In the book of revelation, Jesus commends the Ephesus church for calling out false apostles and exposing them as imposters (2:1-2). He also commends them for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans (2:6). Jesus rebukes the Pergamum church for allowing the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans to be held by some in the church instead of publically refuting them (2:12-14). Jesus also rebuked the church of Thyatira for not rebuking a lady named Jezebel but tolerating her instead (2:18-20).

– Church history also has much example. All of the major theologians brought attacks against other men who taught false doctrine. Augustine opposed and spoke against Pelagius. Athanasius spoke against Arius. Irenaeus confronted the Gnostics. Luther called out the Papists (Catholics) with many biting words of rebuke.

A Few Principles

It is abundantly clear that wherever we turn, we find the call and the example of confronting error that is ever prowling at the doorstep of the church. However, as we stated in the first post on this issue, the fact that we live in a target rich environment means that we need wisdom for how we are going to use our time. Here are a few suggestions.

1) Do not devote all your time to this – It has to be remembered that confronting and rebuking error is only one of the callings of faithful shepherding. There must be continuous feeding from God’s Word as the normal diet of a church. The Scriptures are wide and deep and people need to be feed on that kind of varied diet. The spiritual reality is just like the physical reality. A person needs a balanced healthy diet, and only occasionally do they need to take something special to strengthen the immune system. Or if infection occurs, a strong regiment of antibiotics will be needed. The parallel fits nicely.

2) Understand that people need direct application – You will be a poor guide if you give a group of people a gun and say, “go that way and don’t get eaten.” A good guide will go before them and when a bear is seen on the horizon, inform them, lead them away, or perhaps kill the threat. Pastors and leaders need to apply God’s word to the actual dangers that confront the church. If there are false teachers, or religions, or practices that have some kind of proximity to God’s people, God’s Word needs to be applied to that specific threat.

3) As points of contrast arise, use them – In the normal course of teaching God’s word, there will be topics that touch on the very issue a false teacher is promoting. It would be foolish to miss the opportunity to explain why God’s word is being mishandled or misapplied.

4) Be ready to launch an all-out assault – When a threat comes close, it is time to pull out the big guns. You don’t mess around when a wolf is about to jump into the sheep pin. When the threat is present or imminent, turn your attention to it fully. Deal with it until your people are safe.

5) Be prepared to deal with offended people – A ministry reality is that you are going to offend people. Maybe they will be offended by the gospel. That is alright. Maybe they are offended by some poor word choice. That is unfortunate but hard to avoid completely. In our culture, full of skewed tolerance and faulty notions of love, it is certain that people will be offended at attacks on false teaching. Maybe they think it is too harsh, or unnecessary, or unloving, or nitpicking. Whatever the case, we need to be ready for this. In the best case scenario, we can sit down and explain the situation. Sometimes they are gone before that can happen.

As a summary, we must remember that we wage a real war with a powerful enemy. It is not flesh and blood, but against the spiritual powers in the heavenly realms. They are erecting arguments against the knowledge of God, and we are called to tear them down (2 Cor. 10:5). They want to destroy the church and they are using every tactic available to them. It is not easy to address specific threats. Most ministers just want to teach the glories of God and all He has done for us. But that is just not the world we live in, nor the call He has given us. We must protect the flock against specific threats and to do that with vigilance and diligence. Let us fight the good fight.