20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
Look out lawyers, here comes the money! In our day in the United States, the public rebuke would end up in court. Too often, instead of taking ownership for our sins, we pass the buck and play the blame game. But I know it can be very hard to accept responsibility for our mistakes. It takes a mature adult to step up and say “I was wrong.” The point-the-finger game was the first one invented by humans. As soon as sin entered, they spun the wheel and started pointing. No points were awarded and no prizes given, just exile from God’s perfect world and sin’s consequences experienced and passed down through countless generations. It is hard to take responsibility for our sins when we initiate the process. It is even harder when we think we are getting away with something, and then we get caught and it becomes public. We see this in the news daily. Someone has denied their sin, and then the photos hit the internet and there is no denying them. The best course of action would have been to avoid the sin in the first place. That is the goal of a godly life, reflecting God’s character in every area of our lives at all times. Notice I said the goal, although it is usually not the reality. The next best outcome, if the sin was not avoided, is the quick and full confession. Get it all on the table for those who were affected and need to know. This is not a tell-all bestseller for the purpose of making a profit, but a humble, before God and man time of brokenness and godly sorrow. Not everyone needs to know the details. Too often, for those more removed from the situation, the details become a source of gossip and idle speculative fantasy. Keep the disclosure limited to the need-to-know people. The least favorable course of action when sin is discovered is the public rebuke. No one likes to have their dirty laundry brought out into public view. The purpose of the public rebuke goes beyond the individual who sinned. It serves to help others avoid the same sins. Remember, we are part of a new family, a family of individuals with the goal of becoming good reflectors of God’s character. And most all of us need a lot of reconstruction and polishing before we go on display. Public rebuke is used as the final step, all others having failed, in the discipline process. When individual and small group confrontation have not worked, then public rebuke before the church body is the next step. The goal is repentance and one of the side benefits is a warning to others who might also be involved in similar sin, that it is time to straighten up, repent and stop sinning.
The Arnold Journey 