Too Nice to Do Good

"Nothing is so cruel as the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin."
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

This Bonhoeffer quote reflects the truth that I tried to teach during our mid-week Bible studies this week. After the holiday and vacation break I have returned briefly to the "one another" commands for our Bible study. This week we focused on Colossians 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.

This is a difficult command for many Christians. We are often so afraid of hurting someone's feelings or being rejected by them that we neglect to confront them with the error of their ways. Jim Van Yperen points out that our credibility and integrity for admonishing is built up when we first practice some of the other "one another" commands like forbearing, forgiving, serving and loving one another. But even then, we may be so nice that we can't do good. The good being to try to help our brother or sister see the error of their way.

For those who have been waiting for some vacation pictures to get posted - please be patient, they will be here shortly. I am paying for last week's vacation with an extra load of work this week.