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“Is It Right to Show People They are Wrong Pt 2”
IS IT RIGHT TO SHOW PEOPLE THEY ARE WRONG? [PART II]
by Ron Hutchison
Will someone please tell me how we can warn the wicked of their wicked ways if it is not right to tell them they are wrong? It would be impossible to fulfill this responsibility without telling them they are wrong. We are just as much watchmen as Ezekiel was, and we have the same responsibility to warn the wicked from their wicked way. The Bible teaches in Titus 1:9-11 that an elder has the responsibility of "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." The word "convince" means "to convict." How can an elder convict the gainsayer of his sins and stop his mouth without telling him he is wrong. It would be impossible! Paul taught preachers "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (II Tim. 2:2526). How can you instruct those who oppose themselves without telling them they are wrong? How can they recover themselves out of the snare of the devil if they don't realize they are wrong? Paul taught, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thy self, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:1-2). James taught, "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins" (James 5:19- 20). How can we restore someone if we don't tell them they are wrong? How can we convert someone who has erred from the truth unless we point out his error? It is impossible. Jesus taught, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother" (Matt. 18:15). What does Jesus mean when He says, "go and tell him his fault?" Does it not mean that you are to show him where he is wrong? We not only have the right, but we have the obligation to show people where they are wrong in their religious beliefs and to help them see the truth. One of the objections people have to telling people that they are wrong in religion is based on the false teaching that people can't really know the truth - that we can't really know what is right and wrong in religion. Of course this contradicts what Jesus said in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This ought to forever settle the question as to man's ability to know what is right and wrong. We can know the truth, we can know when one errs from the truth. People seem to think that because men and women of equal education and attainments disagree on even basic passages that means the com mon man can never come to a knowledge of the truth, or at least, can never be certain that he has. Nothing can be further from the truth! God has so designed the Bible that no matter how many degrees a person has behind his name, he has no more ability to understand the Bible than the man who has a third grade education. In fact, the man with the third grade education may have the advantage because he doesn't have his mind clouded with the words and writings of modernists! WE CAN KNOW THE TRUTH! JESUS SAID IT AND WE ALL OUGHT TO ACCEPT IT WITHOUT RESERVATION!! Another objection people have to telling people they are wrong is that each one of us is a sinner and thus we do not have the right to tell another sinner that they are wrong. I agree that each one of us sins (1 John 1:8), but I disagree that each one of us lives a life of sin. To hear some of our brethren talk, they believe that we are just as bad after becoming a Christian as we were before. It is true that before we became Christians we lived in sin, but when we became Christians we became dead to sin (Rom. 6:2). We are now "walking in the light" (I John 1:7). However, the person who is wrong religiously is walking in darkness - he is living in sin because he is not walking according to the teaching of the New Testament. I submit to you that the per son who is walking in the light (in spite of the fact that he sins) not only has a right, but he is obligated to tell the person who is walking in darkness that he is wrong. If that were not the case, then no one but a sinlessly perfect individual could ever preach the gospel to others, and there aren't any of them on the earth anymore! If the gospel (truth) is to be preached it must be preached by those who are walking in the light, even though they may sin at times. Let me say again, if a person is not right religiously he is not "walking in the light," he is "walking in the darkness" and he must be told that he is wrong if there is to be any possibility for salvation. The person who is "walking in the light" is the one who has the responsibility to tell him.
