Paul says the Bible is profitable for reproof. Reprove means correct, scold, expose something evil. When you reprove, you show someone what’s he done wrong. 

Yes, Timothy is a pastor, but reproof isn’t just for pastors. Jesus tells us to reprove a brother who sins against us. Reproof is what parents do when their children behave badly, what teachers do to unruly students, what employers do to employees who aren’t pulling their weight. 

As members of the church, we’re members of one another, and Jesus commands us to reprove one another.

We avoid this. Most of us don’t like to reprove or be reproved. It’s painful to be corrected, and we’re too Southern or polite or cowardly to interfere with one another. 

Or we simply don’t know each another well enough to see anything that needs correction. Everyone looks shiny and clean on Sunday morning, but if we live with one another things aren’t always so smooth. You husbands and wives know you’re not always as polished as you are this morning; you know your kids aren’t always perfect, and kids know your parents aren’t perfect. 

When you know one another well, when you share life together, there’s always plenty of opportunity for reproof.

 There’s a lot of talk about community these days. Usually community is a happy word, connoting knittedness, cohesiveness, sharing, warm and cozy togetherness. 

All that’s real, but achieving genuine togetherness is hard work. There’s sin in every community, and if we’re going to flourish as a church, we need to be close enough to irritate each other. 

And we need to be truthful enough to correct one another when we do. We must learn to give and receive reproof. That’s what the Bible’s for.

Blessings,
Pastor Leithart