 Hey, smart Christians. I want to talk to you about something that I think we all need to from time to time check ourselves on Have you ever seen? Have you ever noticed the angry Christian? And I mean the Christian who may in their mind me in their heart may think that what they're doing is correct And maybe they are but maybe their approach is not the correct way in today's culture Especially on YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter. You name it. It's easy to be upset with people who may Push out bad doctrine Because you're getting inundated all the time with people with foolish things that are happening. And so you might want to Because you're angry and it might even be a righteous anger a righteous indignation You may want to lash out and push back But the way we do it matters also not that we do it sometimes it matters that we do it sometimes We ought not do it But there's really never a bad time to defend the gospel now There's always though there can be a bad way to defend the gospel Paul says in Ephesians 4 25 he says therefore laying aside falsehood speak truth Each one of you with his neighbors for we are members one another So therefore it's okay to let someone know hey what you're doing what you're saying is incorrectly as far as I believe now It could be though that what you're saying what you believe you're the one in error and not the other person But it does matter how you approach the person does matter what you say how you say Our knee jerk response it should not be to attack or destroy the person But should be to build a person to correct the person but sometimes we Start at the highest level of intensity and then hopefully work our way down if the person agrees Publicly or privately but more importantly if they agree quickly the quicker they agree the less of our ire They'll receive but there's a reason why we're saying this now. There is a difference There is a difference between talking to the person who is a false teacher false prophet a wolf versus the person who is being deceived by them when we do so we need to remember how we do it and By the way, it doesn't really matter if it is the the person who has evil intentions or the person who's just Not sure just maybe ignorant of what's happening. Paul says this He says let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only Such a word as is good for edification Now that doesn't mean it has to be a really nice soft word sometimes it can be a stern word But the point is to edify the issue is this when you come with guns ablazing and with knives out The person sees that hears that feels that what is their natural inclination? Their natural inclination is gonna be to do two things one to be defensive to protect themselves of what's coming And then two to push back with the exact same force What if you do so and you're in the wrong and they push back with the same force? Well, you're not gonna like it. No one will now a good rebuke if it's godly amen But we need to remember how we do so saying something Strongly does not mean because you say it's strong or you think that you're strong That didn't mean that it's sanctified does not mean that it is of God set apart from God It does not mean that sometimes in our anger in our force We think that we are really doing the right thing and sometimes really not it's hard It's hard to know when to speak like a lamb Sometimes we got to be aligned. It's hard to know when the right time to do this Jesus did it perfectly We not so much remember the fruit of the spirit is Love Joy peace less remember peace It's okay to be at peace with people that we disagree with patience You remember patience the way God treated you how God treated you what he used in treating you with patience Kindness goodness faithfulness. These are the characteristics that comes out of an actual believer gentleness Self-control raging at people all the time does not show Self-control against such thing. There is no law. So therefore we ought to try to emulate that Even when we're dealing with bad doctrine now that should be the first thing that we're looking at Not necessarily attacking the person but attacking the doctrine that the person is speaking of that might be heretical All heretical doctrine doesn't come from heretics Heresy can come from a person who's just ignorant sometimes of the word of God They don't know any better, but then when you when we attack sometimes and maybe I've been guilty of that I want to make sure that people understand my heart as well that if I say something if I say it a little harsh And it does the the one thing that I don't want to do which is to push someone who might be listening away Well, then I apologize We should all be willing to admit that there are going to be times where you say things or do things not in the best light As Christians first and foremost you need to be humble Recognize that at some point time it's going to be on you the attention is going to be on you But when you are the one putting the spotlight on someone else your motives matter as well How you handle things is just as important to God as that you handle things Paul says in 2nd Timothy 4 to he says preach the word be ready in season not a season which is all the time But he says reprove there's gonna be times you got to prove someone wrong rebuke There's gonna be times where someone is wrong either in unintentionally or intentionally and you have to rebuke them either Rebuke the the sin or rebuke the the words that are coming out of their mouth Then also this literally says exhort with great patience exhort that word literally means to comfort Almost to encourage someone well Who would you encourage well someone that you want to actually get it to love them? Attacking them kicking them beating them spitting on them. That's not encouraging guys I know you might feel that way for some people but that's not encouraging and then he says to do so with great patience with great Patience with great patience that means Being patient towards them understanding that today they may not get it Tomorrow they may not get it as a matter of fact. It's not your timing that matters. It's God's timing What does he say one plants another waters, but God gives the increase and even though they're not listening to sound doctrine They have these itching years these tickling years But Paul says to preach and be patient with those people those very same people and so let's be mindful guys that You don't get points for being harsh You don't get heavenly points You don't get rewards for being brutal in your approach You do not get as a matter of fact what it may indicate is a lack of maturity on our part If all we know how to do is to swing a bat hard because I can promise you as Jesus said the same standard or measure of judgment that you give You'll get it back When you judge harshly You want to make sure that in your harsh judgment that you are absolutely correct Because what's gonna happen is this the harsh judgments coming back at you Might not come back from that same person or it might come in a way that you cannot handle It may come in a way to break you to bring you down to teach you humility Now are there times where the person needs harsh rebuke sure Paul as a matter of fact in 2nd Timothy 4 He's saying to do so patiently and To encourage but then he also goes on and offers a strong a strong rebuke and even a warning Poor someone like an Alexander copper Alexander the coppersmith who he says resisted there or their message So there is a place in time, but let's just remember though Even as we're rebuke in someone even as we're giving a person a piece of our mind or what we think the word is trying to tell them Let's remember that we're also Christians too. You do not get points for being mean Did I get points for being the harshest that you can be to be able to say? Yeah, I'm showing them You get points for your love for your kindness for your gentleness for your patience. That's what you give But let's not make it personal. Let's not be angry in how we approach them Let's be guided because there are some people that are watching who God is going to use you or maybe not To bring them close with God. What did Jesus say? Let your light so shine that mean we'll see your good works and then glorify God So our approach should be godly should be loving and then if we've got to turn the intensity up on a person Well, then amen, but our default personality should not be harsh or angry to someone Who wants to be a believer who calls himself believe even if they're not and let's be honest all of us are guilty We all have given the gospel or presented Christ in a negative fashion We all have and so let's keep that in mind as we are dealing with they're gonna be wolves They're gonna be false teachers gonna be false prophets. We're gonna be strong. We're gonna be stern. We're gonna be firm But we're also gonna be loving as well. Amen