Appreciate your well-thought out points on this practice that is eroding the peace and unity of the church. I think it goes for people in the pews listening to the leaders as well to be discerning and to also have the courage to speak up and do their own investigation of facts and truth.
We can’t have the followers of Paul, followers of Apollos mentality. We must be followers of Christ and hold our leaders to a standard of truth not just sit in the pews and blindly swallow what is said just because of who said it.
Reminds me of watching the news these days. Christianity isn’t about which “channel”(leader) you watch (listen to and believe), we’re supposed to only be watching and be led by Jesus Christ and therein lies the unity we seek.
Pat…Good morning! Thank you for your great points. I preached a sermon yesterday that will surprise some out there because it is so contrary to what they’ve heard about me. It’s a shame and it’s time we all do our part to shut down the misinformation.
Your point 2 and 3 is spot on. If someone is going to publicly criticize, they need to verify themselves the facts and listen to the context of what was said.
I do think your first points gets misused often. In the context of Matthew, it’s talking about going to someone privately when they sin against you. I do see your point about Paul correcting privately, but that’s not an instruction that it always needs to be done that way. In fact, Paul publicly calls out many people by name in his letters.
The reason I bring this up is I worry some use this “private convo first always” approach to avoid hard discussions about teaching. And in an era of social media and podcasting, it’s fair for others to post criticisms online for the teachers and their listeners to see/debate. Idk. Curious your thoughts.
I read this last night ... and posted some of my thoughts in response in today's article. As I said there,
1. Correction should always begin with the least destructive, most redemptive approach possible.
2. Public teaching does not automatically require public correction.
3. Public corrections should not be first responses -- which is what is happening in many cases in the present controversy. It certainly has been the case with me.
4. Modern social media does not change biblical ethics. Not every response is wise.
I can tell you that for me there is no desire to avoid "hard discussions." I've had a few recently, and both parties came to a better understanding of what I believe and realized what is being said about me is not true. And these conversations were done privately ... and ended positively and warmly with a handshake and a hug. This is the way it should be done, before going public. I think biblical principles demand it.
Appreciate your well-thought out points on this practice that is eroding the peace and unity of the church. I think it goes for people in the pews listening to the leaders as well to be discerning and to also have the courage to speak up and do their own investigation of facts and truth.
We can’t have the followers of Paul, followers of Apollos mentality. We must be followers of Christ and hold our leaders to a standard of truth not just sit in the pews and blindly swallow what is said just because of who said it.
Reminds me of watching the news these days. Christianity isn’t about which “channel”(leader) you watch (listen to and believe), we’re supposed to only be watching and be led by Jesus Christ and therein lies the unity we seek.
Pat…Good morning! Thank you for your great points. I preached a sermon yesterday that will surprise some out there because it is so contrary to what they’ve heard about me. It’s a shame and it’s time we all do our part to shut down the misinformation.
Your point 2 and 3 is spot on. If someone is going to publicly criticize, they need to verify themselves the facts and listen to the context of what was said.
I do think your first points gets misused often. In the context of Matthew, it’s talking about going to someone privately when they sin against you. I do see your point about Paul correcting privately, but that’s not an instruction that it always needs to be done that way. In fact, Paul publicly calls out many people by name in his letters.
The reason I bring this up is I worry some use this “private convo first always” approach to avoid hard discussions about teaching. And in an era of social media and podcasting, it’s fair for others to post criticisms online for the teachers and their listeners to see/debate. Idk. Curious your thoughts.
I read this last night ... and posted some of my thoughts in response in today's article. As I said there,
1. Correction should always begin with the least destructive, most redemptive approach possible.
2. Public teaching does not automatically require public correction.
3. Public corrections should not be first responses -- which is what is happening in many cases in the present controversy. It certainly has been the case with me.
4. Modern social media does not change biblical ethics. Not every response is wise.
I can tell you that for me there is no desire to avoid "hard discussions." I've had a few recently, and both parties came to a better understanding of what I believe and realized what is being said about me is not true. And these conversations were done privately ... and ended positively and warmly with a handshake and a hug. This is the way it should be done, before going public. I think biblical principles demand it.