Imperfect Prophets

Losing Our Ability to Rebuke

The Christian community is slowly embracing a concept that erodes our ability to bring correction and rebuke. This concept comes through clearly in one common statement: “Who am I—a sinner—to rebuke/correct the sin in someone else’s life? That’s hypocritical.” There are multiple things wrong with that statement. However, there’s one crucial assumption being made. Anyone making this statement assumes one must be better than someone in order to rebuke them. What a foolish idea. If that were true, there could be no rebuke in the world.Throughout the centuries, the Christian community has not embraced this concept.

Look At the Prophets

Look at the prophets. They are well known for handing out scathing rebukes of God’s people and the world around them. Yet, did the prophets think they were better than the people they were rebuking? No way. Read what Isaiah thinks of himself: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5, ESV). Yet, this didn’t prevent Isaiah from rebuking God’s people for turning away from God. It’s the same for all the prophets. The prophets were imperfect men who recognized their own sinfulness AND still pointed out the sinfulness in the world around them.

Who’s Authority

Here’s why the prophets’ imperfection didn’t prevent them from rebuking the sin in others’ lives. They did not base the rebuke on their holiness or their authority. They based the rebuke on God’s holiness and authority. That’s why they began every rebuke by saying, “Thus says the Lord…”

It’s important to recognize that we have no right/authority to point out other people’s sins. Who do we think we are? God is the only one who has authority to correct other people’s sins. That’s why we can only address the sin in other people’s lives according to God’s Word—not our own opinion. The moment we judge others based on our own opinion is the moment we lose any authority. However, when we judge others according to the Word of God, He is the one doing the judging, not us.

Misunderstanding Jesus

The most well-known saying of Jesus is, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1, ESV). Most non-believers in the United States know this verse and throw it in Christian’s faces regularly. However, most of the people using this verse completely misunderstand what Jesus is trying to say. They don’t even know what comes after it. Jesus continues saying, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3–5, ESV).

Notice what Jesus is actually saying in this passage—especially in the last line. He says FIRST take the log out of your own eye, THEN you can take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Jesus isn’t telling us we should never try to remove a speck from a brother’s eye. He is telling us we must become keenly aware of the sinfulness in our own life before we address the sin in another’s life.

The Benefit of Acknowledging Our Sin

When we’re honest with our sinfulness, it can be used for our own good and the good of others. When we acknowledge the sinfulness of our own hearts, we become more aware of what is leading us astray and we can then use that knowledge to help others from being led astray in a similar way. We are all humans. We face many of the same temptations. Why not help each other out? Honestly acknowledging our sinfulness can better help us diagnose the sinfulness of the world.

It will also change the way we address the world. When we acknowledge our own sin before addressing the sin of other people—taking the log out of our own eye first—our tone changes. We don’t approach them as some Christian elite. We don’t approach them with a “holier than thou” mentality. We approach them as a fellow sinner who has the same struggles as they do. We approach them with grace and mercy. We speak the truth to them in love. We show them ways in which we’ve tried to overcome temptation and ways we’ve failed to overcome temptation.

In all reality, a fellow sinner is particularly useful in correcting our sin. They are the perfect tool for the job.