Matthew 14:3-4 ESV For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Have you ever wondered why people get upset when you call them out on something? It is because they know what they are doing is wrong and feel guilty about it but do not want to admit it. If someone is rebuked for something they do not feel guilty about, it doesn’t faze them. They do not get defensive. They simply do not care.
When a person knows they are wrong and someone points their wrong-doing out there is conviction. Conviction is met by one of two responses, repentance or anger. The person will either acknowledge their fault or they will be upset that they have been exposed.
The history behind the passage above is that King Herod had married his brother’s divorced wife. That was against Jewish laws. When John pointed out this sin, Herod and Herodias must have felt guilty because they sought revenge for John’s rebuke.
Rebuking someone’s sin is uncomfortable for most of us. partly because most of us do not like confrontation and partly because we know how flawed we are and don’t feel we are “pure” enough to talk to someone else about their sin issues.
Christians are not given the option of ignoring sin in other Christians. We are commanded repeatedly in the Bible to confront sin in a loving manner for the good of the church and the benefit of the guilty party. There are four important aspects of the preceding sentence. I will mention all four in the rest of this article. Two involve how we are to deal with the sin and two are why.
First, we are to confront sin, not the person. Sin is the problem; the person is our brother or sister. Mature Christians should treat the person as gently as possible while dealing with the sin having an attitude of bearing their burden (Galatians 6:1-2).
Second, correction should be done out of love. We should care about the person too much to allow the sin to continue without trying to help. Sin brings death and drawing a person back from sin is a rescue (James 5:19-20).
Third, we should be bold to confront out of zeal to protect the church. Sin is a cancer that eats away the body of Christ from the inside. When cancer is caught early it can usually be excised and the body suffers little permanent damage. However, if left to grow, the cancer can cause significant damage to the point of death.
Finally, we must act for the benefit of the person. Sin hinders a person’s relationship with God. Even if salvation is not lost (a theological debate for another time) sin will destroy a Christian’s joy and peace and rob them of blessings they would have received from a healthy relationship with God.
Notice here I am talking about confronting sin in another Christian. Often, Christians are willing to confront sin in the world but not in another believer. We should expect the world to sin. Give them the gospel not a rebuke. They need salvation not a confrontation. It is within the church we are commanded to deal with our brothers and sisters.
Thank You Lord for the godly men and women You have put in my life. Thank You for the courage people have shown by taking a stand and not allowing me to wallow in my sin. Grant me the grace and humility to step up when needed.