Worth Repeating - August 4, 2017

II Samuel 12: 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” (NIV)

Avoiding confrontation is not love. It’s either apathy because I don’t care enough to do what Jesus says or it’s fear because I’m more afraid of facing you than obeying Jesus.*

“Silence is golden,” is good to remember on those occasions when keeping your mouth shut is the wisest move to make. But sometimes, silence is yellow. Things that need to be brought to light are left unsaid because we are too cowardly to face the consequences. We don’t want to make anyone mad, or hurt their feelings, or lose our job – or be executed.

Nathan was a prophet who is mentioned throughout the story of David’s reign and even on into that of Solomon, David’s son and successor.  (“As for the other events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet?” II Chronicles 9: 29) It was Nathan’s God-given responsibility to rebuke King David for his despicable behavior – adultery and murder – and to deliver the message of God’s judgment. Was Nathan terrified? We shouldn’t think less of him if he was, for as someone has observed, “The odds . . . were a million to one that Nathan would have lost his head if he had confronted any other monarch with a charge of wickedness like that he skillfully leveled against the king of Israel.”*

We don’t have the benefit of receiving a direct order from God to help us determine when silence is golden and when it is yellow, but we have two advantages over Nathan: we don’t have the fear of death looming over us as a consequence of our words; and he did not have the Holy Spirit’s presence to give him discernment. 

Are you faced with such a dilemma? Does it seem that you have been chosen to deliver a message like Nathan’s? It’s not just the risk of hurt feelings or anger that makes us hesitate – there’s always the chance that we will be accused of being judgmental or that we are wrong or even that it’s not our place to speak up. Whatever is holding you back, earnestly seek God’s will and his assurance. Assess the situation; ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen if I speak up? What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t?” If one of those answers involves eternal consequences, I believe you have your answer.

A rebuke is more effective when the person delivering it truly cares about the well-being of others and isn’t just out to win the argument.*