What Gives You the Right?

“Who are you to tell me?” Somebody in every room has heard it, or said it. It is a fair question, and it deserves a real answer.

The question assumes the job was finished the day someone believed. But Jesus never told us to make Christians. He told us to make disciples — “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” A disciple is someone still being taught. Correction is not a right one Christian claims over another. It is the assignment every disciple was given, and Jesus put fences around it Himself.

There is one command in that sentence: make disciples. Going, baptizing and teaching hang off it.

Silence is not neutral. But notice who Ezekiel is sent to: the house of Israel, God's own people. The watchman is a responsibility inside the family of God — not a licence to police strangers.

Reasoning frankly with your neighbor and loving him as yourself are the same command.

“You may not ignore it.” Love is something you do.

Our job is inside the church. Outsiders we love, serve and tell about Jesus. Brothers and sisters we also correct.

And the authority sits in Scripture, not in us.

Read these passages in English and you meet five different phrases: reason frankly, open rebuke, tell him his fault, reproof, reproved. Read them in the Greek Bible and it is one word family — elenchō, to bring something into the light so it can be seen and dealt with.

• Leviticus 19:17–18 — ἐλεγμῷ — ESV “reason frankly”
• Proverbs 27:5–6 (LXX 34:5–6) — ἔλεγχοι — ESV “open rebuke”
• Matthew 18:15–17 — ἔλεγξον — ESV “tell him his fault”
• 2 Timothy 3:16–17 — ἐλεγμόν — ESV “reproof”
• Hebrews 12:5–11 — ἐλεγχόμενος — ESV “reproved”

The Law, the proverbs, Jesus and the apostles are all describing the same act. Leviticus puts it in the same breath as “love your neighbor as yourself.” Hebrews says God does it to the ones He calls sons.

If you can answer all five honestly, love does not just permit you to speak. Love requires it.

• Ezekiel 3:17–19; 33:7–9 — Ezekiel, a priest taken to Babylon in 597 BC. Judah's exiles by the Chebar canal. Watchman for the house of Israel — God's own people, not the nations around them.
• Leviticus 19:17–18 — Moses, at Sinai. Israel, newly redeemed from Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 19:15; 22:1–4 — Moses, on the plains of Moab. The second generation, about to enter the land.
• Proverbs 27:5–6 — The wisdom tradition gathered under Solomon. Young people in Israel being trained to live wisely.
• Matthew 7; 18; 23; 28 — Matthew, the tax collector turned apostle, recording Jesus. The disciples and the crowds; Matthew 18 is spoken about “your brother,” someone inside the community; Matthew 28 to the Eleven.
• Luke 6:40 — Luke, physician and companion of Paul. Theophilus and the Gentile churches.
• John 8:31–32; 13:34–35 — John, the beloved disciple. Jews who had believed Him; then the disciples at the Last Supper.
• 1 Corinthians 5:12–13 — Paul. A divided, permissive church in Corinth — the line between judging inside the church and outside it.
• Galatians 6:1–2 — Paul. Churches in Galatia, pulled toward law-keeping as the mark of who is in.
• Ephesians 4:15 — Paul, writing from prison. The church at Ephesus and the churches around it.
• 2 Timothy 3:16–17 — Paul, in his last letter. Timothy, left to lead the church at Ephesus.
• Hebrews 12:5–11 — An unnamed teacher of the early church. Jewish believers under pressure, tempted to go back.
• James 5:19–20 — James, the Lord's brother. Jewish believers scattered abroad.
• 1 John 3:16–18 — John, as an old man. Churches he calls “little children,” shaken by people who had left them.

Teach It Yourself — Free Class Materials

A 20-minute class with the full leader script — timings, what to say and what not to say — and a disciple workbook with every passage printed in full. Free to use in any church.