When was the last time you felt rebuked? I have found that being rebuked is one of the most uncomfortable experiences imaginable. It is the emotional equivalent of being stabbed or shot. It accuses and convicts you of being out of line. Who would want that?
Yet rebuking is one of the positive usefulness-es of the Scriptures that Paul lists in 2 Timothy 3:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (verses 16–17, emphasis added)
Rebuking is not an accidental value, but one of God’s purposes in speaking the words of the Scriptures to us (along with teaching, correcting and training us in righteousness). If the Scriptures are useful for rebuking then that is one of the things I should use them for. I should expect one of the effects of reading my Bible is that I will be rebuked. When was the last time you asked God to rebuke you as you read or heard the Bible?
Being Rebuked by the Scriptures
When we read the Bible we find many explicit rebukes: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for being whitewashed tombs, blind guides, hypocrites and more (Matt 23), he rebukes the disciples for being ‘little-faiths’ (Matt 8:26); the prophets continually rebuke Israel for being unfaithful to the LORD who saved them in their idolatry and immorality; Paul rebukes the Galatians for being bewitched by those who would return them to slavery (Gal 3:1) and he rebukes the Corinthians for thinking like infants (1 Cor 14:20). Rebuking exposes wrong thinking and muddle-headedness. It is primarily focussed on what you believe, based on how you understand. It is often sharp, to get attention and force you to see the error of your ways.
When I read a passage that has an explicit rebuke, I am forced to search my mind and heart to see whether my thinking is rebuked. Often it is, sometimes it isn’t. For a rebuke to be necessary, I must be wrong and the Scriptures must be right. For the Scriptures to rebuke me, they must have authority over my thinking and beliefs. For a rebuke to be relevant, there needs to be a difference of understanding. For a rebuke to be effective, I need to acknowledge that the Scriptures are right and I am wrong. Unless I am convinced that the Scriptures carry the authority of God, I will rebuke the Scriptures when there is a difference of opinion because I naturally believe that what I think is right. Paul’s assertion that the Scriptures are useful for rebuking assumes the authority of the Scriptures over all human opinions, including all of mine. When the Scriptures rebuke me, God is rebuking me.
Using the Scriptures to Be Rebuked
This gives one very helpful window into how to benefit from reading the Bible. For a passage to rebuke me it does not need to be in the form of a rebuke. Any passage can rebuke me when it exposes my thinking as deficient or wrong. For a rebuke to be effective, it must expose the differences between what I think and believe, and what the Bible teaches. It is in this gap that rebuking occurs.
I find it very helpful to ask questions of any passage like: Is there a difference between what this passage teaches and what I think? If there is a difference, who do I think is right—God or I? Would I say this differently to how the Bible puts it? What does that show about my flawed thinking?
Knowledge of the usefulness of the Scriptures to rebuke also rebukes me for avoiding passages I don’t like. My tendency to stick to passages I feel comfortable with is usually an indication that the passages I am avoiding are ones that don’t fit easily with my way of thinking. The fact that the Bible is given to rebuke me should rebuke this avoidance itself. I should welcome and engage with those passages that make me feel uncomfortable for they likely have a rebuke for me that I need to heed.
God’s rebukes are motivated by his love for us: ‘Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline’ (Rev 3:19). Thinking wrongly about anything is dangerous, both to my relationship with God and to living faithfully in a complex world. And so there is every reason to welcome God’s rebukes even if they can feel like a kick in the guts.
Using the Scriptures to Rebuke
For those of us who bear the responsibility to teach God’s truth to others: teaching will often involve rebuking. Elders are not only to encourage by sound doctrine, but also to refute those who oppose it (Tit 1:9). As we open the Scriptures in our teaching and conversation, we ought to be making good use of the rebuking function of the Scriptures. This requires insight into the ways the people we are pastoring think—they may not need the same rebukes as those to whom the passage was initially written. And our rebuking must be fuelled by the love of God, not by hatred or vindictiveness or judgmentalism.
Being rebuked is painful, but as Proverbs 27:6 says: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
