Reproof
I. HOW TO GIVE REPROOF. The duty of reproving is one of the most difficult and delicate ever attempted. The people who are most rash in adventuring upon it too often fall into the greatest blunders, while those who are really fitted to undertake it shrink from the attempt. The mere utterance of a protest is generally worse than useless. It only raises anger and provokes to greater obstinacy. Unless there is some probability of convincing a man of the wrongness of his conduct, there is little good in administering rebukes to him. It is not the duty of any man to raise up enemies without cause. We should all seek, as far as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men. Of course, it may he incumbent upon us sometimes so to act that we shall provoke opposition. Jesus Christ could have avoided the enmity of the Jews, but only by unfaithfulness to his mission. Where we are in the way of our mission, or when any duty will be accomplished or any good done, we must not shrink from rousing antagonism. To do so is cowardice, not peaceableness. But if no good is done, we may only bring a nest of hornets about our heads by our indiscretion. Let us understand that while we are never to sanction evil doing, we are only called to rebuke it when the rebuke will not be certainly rejected; then we must risk insult for the sake of righteousness. The practical point, then. is that we consider the character of a man before attempting to rebuke him, and that we be not so anxious to protest against sin as to counsel the sinner and guide him to better ways. If he is in a hard, scornful mood, we had better wait for a more fitting opportunity. If he is too strong for us, we shall only injure the cause of right by attempting to grapple with him. Weak champions of Christianity have often only hurt themselves, discredited their cause, and afforded a triumph to powerful opponents by their rash encounters. In all cases to reprove well requires wisdom, tact, simplicity, humanity.
II. HOW TO RECEIVE REPROOF. He who hates the reprover will become himself a scorner; the wise man will love the reprover. Our manner of accepting merited reproof will therefore be a test of our character. Thus viewed, may not the text class many of us with the scorners, though we had little suspected where our true place was to be found? It is too common for a man to reject all reproof with rage. Not inquiring whether the accusation is true, he unjustly regards it as an attack upon himself, as a personal insult. There may be fault with the reprover—very often there is. But a wise man will not shelter himself behind that. Granting that the method of reproof was unwise, harsh, offensive; still, was there no ground for any reproof? To be angry at all reproof is to be one of the worst of scorners—to scorn right and truth. For the conscientious man will not dare to reject appeals to his conscience; he will feel bound to listen to them, no matter how unwelcome the voice that speaks them. He will desire to be free from faults. Should he not, therefore, thank those people who show them to him? If he loves goodness, he ought to lore those whose advice will help him to remove the greatest hindrances to attaining it. If he hates sin as the disease of his soul, he should accept reproof as medicine, and treat the reprover as a valuable physician.