(noutheteo – caution, to impart understanding,to set right,lay on the heart of will and disposition, direct one’s mind)
(Rom 15:14;Col 3:16)
Rom 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
I love the thought here… “to put in mind.”
I have some basic principles I live by. One of them is this: If I know you well enough and really care about you; I will tell you about something I see in your life that may be a blind spot to you.
FACT: WE ALL HAVE BLIND SPOTS
It’s the true friend that risks telling you that you’ve got a booger hanging out of your nose or that your fly is down.
That may be a silly example, but it also applies to much more serious areas in our life.
I love it when someone cares enough about me to take the risk of warning me when I’m about to go off the boundary rails! I don’t think we do this enough for each other. Or when we do, it is done in a hurtful way and not in a spirit of love.
Here’s a free tip: if you are going to instruct – GO THE DISTANCE. Commit to the long-haul process of helping. Pointing out a problem is simple compared to sticking around to solve one.
This word is NOT about judging, it’s about loving!
And this is not a hierarchical word used or abused by church authorities to keep the sheep in line. This is a ONE ANOTHER principle. Are Pastors and Elders the only one to speak words of instruction?
If you may be thinking, “It’s not my place to say something,” or “It’s none of my business.” Let me just correct you right now. It IS your place and this IS our business!
What are you afraid of? Rejection? Being labeled? When we instruct in love, it is a risk – it does take guts. I think the body of Christ needs to move beyond middle-school mentality and maturely act like followers of Christ.
To the church in Colossae Paul goes on to write about songs and hymns to God. Could we sing our gentle warning to our friends as we try to enlighten them about their blind spots? Now that’s not something you hear every day at church! “Brother, I’m going to sing you a song about your temper and it goes like this… “
Prayer: Father help me to care enough to correct with love and be willing to receive that same kind of correction from those who care about me.
If you have a story of instructing someone and it was a great experience for both parties, share it in the comments area and help others be bold.