Strong Rebuke

Galatians 2

"When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong"

..."When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, 'You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?..."

I always thought rebuke had to always be gentle and private. But apparently Paul and Jesus think differently!

I was reading this passage that a pastor wrote in a book, about what he does in his church:

(by the way, this is key! I have personally seen innerworkings of a church divide because of this)

"One Sunday about 20 years ago, back in our days in YWCA, I said something impromptu while receiving new members into the church that has stuck with us ever since. People were standing in a row across the front before me, and as I spoke, the Holy Spirit seemed to prompt me to add, “and now I charge you, as pastor of this church, that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone—myself, another pastor, an usher, a choir member or anyone else—you have the authority to stop that person in midsentence and say, ‘Excuse me—who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slighted you? Was it Pastor Cymbala? Let’s go to his office right now. He will get on his knees and apologize to you, and then we’ll pray together, so God can restore peace to this body. But we will not let you talk critically about people who are not present to defend themselves.’

“New members, please understand that I am entirely serious about this. I want you to help resolve this kind of thing immediately. And meanwhile, know this: If you are ever the one doing the loose talking, we will confront you.” "

~Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

So good.

Fear God.