by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
“Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith<\/em>” (Titus 1:13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I wonder sometimes how this would work in today’s highly sensitive society and church. Paul is surely not advocating a regular feature of Titus’ preaching, but it is\u00a0a\u00a0<\/strong>feature that needs to be used at times, without thinking that a modern Titus is always wrong to express himself in this way.<\/p>\n
[Wherefore rebuke them] Notes, 2 Tim 4:2.<\/p>\n
[Sharply] apotomoos<\/em> – “cuttingly, severely” – from [apotemnoo<\/em>], “to cut off.” The word is used here in the sense of severity, meaning that the reproof should be such as would be understood, and would show them plainly the wickedness of such traits of character. He was not to be mealy-mouthed, but he was to call things by their right names, and not to spare their faults. When men know that they are doing wrong, we should tell them so in few words; if they do not know it, it is necessary to teach them, in order to convince them of their error.<\/p>\n[That they may be sound in the faith] That they may not allow the prevailing vices to corrupt their views of religion.
\n[from Barnes’ Notes].\nSharply is derived from a verb that means “to act harshly toward someone.” The combination of this adverb with the imperative indicates the seriousness and severity with which Titus is supposed to deal with these heretical teachers. Translations try to capture this intensity in many ways; for example, “correct them rigorously” (at), “reprimand them sharply” (Phps), “be severe in correcting them” (NJB).
\n[from the UBS Handbook Series]<\/blockquote>\nTheir society did not believe that a sharp rebuke was the same as being a bully, or just being rude. The church had not yet been corrupted into thinking that “sharp rebuke” was unloving and un-Christ-like or being too combative and judgmental. In our society, Paul would be considered a spiritual bully for even suggesting that this kind of behavior was proper, much less encouraging another young preacher to adopt this attitude and course of action.<\/p>\n
Is there something wrong with our sensitive culture? Has our culture captivated and corrupted the churches so that churches are filled with people who will not ever allow what Paul told Titus ever to be carried out? Have our concepts of love even been corrupted to the point that we do not think Paul was instructing Titus in how true love must sometimes be expressed?<\/p>\n
This is not how to express oneself to all people under all conditions, for sure, but it is something that must be done when similar conditions arise among the churches. Paul openly rebuked Peter in public. It is real love, and it needed to be done. See Galatians 2.<\/p>\n
This is something we need to understand in our culture. We need to be gentle as a rule, but sometimes we need to stand up and firmly rebuke error and those who are spreading it.<\/p>\n
Something to remember!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). I wonder sometimes how this would work in today’s highly sensitive society and church. Paul is surely not advocating a regular feature of Titus’ preaching, but it is\u00a0a\u00a0feature that needs to be used at times, without thinking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1598],"class_list":["post-86798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-rebukes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40039,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-these-things-will-i-give-thee\/","url_meta":{"origin":86798,"position":0},"title":"All These Things Will I Give Thee","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary McDade Surely, the Devil thought the temptation a valid one he offered the Lord on that exceeding high mountain when \"he showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,\" promising them to him if he would \"fall down and worship me\" (Matthew 4:8-9).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28930,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-criticize-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":86798,"position":1},"title":"Can a Christian criticize society?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a Christian be a social critic, such as a lawyer or a journalist dealing with a corrupt government? How far can he go in criticizing? Answer: John the Baptist ended up in jail because he told the current ruler that he wasn't properly married. \"But Herod the tetrarch,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-aim-of-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":86798,"position":2},"title":"The Aim of Preaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frank Himmel Churches that are all about numbers gladly alter their activities to accommodate popular demand. While music usually gets special attention, preaching is no less targeted. Perhaps it would be timely to remind us all what God intends preaching to accomplish. 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