2 Timothy 4:2 (ESV)
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
The Word is to be proclaimed in season and out of season. In other words, it
is to be proclaimed whether people are ready and responsive or not. Combined
with proclamation the preacher is to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. To reprove is
to expose or to show guilt. To rebuke is to warn against wrong behavior. To
exhort is to encourage to do the right thing. That is strong language, but it
is tempered by what comes next. They are to reveal wrong behavior, warn against
it, and encourage to that which is right “with complete patience and teaching.”
Patience implies staying power, but it also indicates longsuffering and avoiding
the premature use of force. Teaching speaks of systematically laying out the
truth. Sometimes in frustration the preacher forgets the patience and teaching
part and attacks or berates their audience. Yes, we must reprove, rebuke, and
exhort, but we must do it with patience and faithful, systematic teaching, not heavy
handed reprimanding, scolding, and criticizing. If you are a pastor or
preacher, take this truth to heart. Keep speaking truth, but don’t forget to
love those to whom you are preaching. If you are not a pastor or preacher, pray
for those who are. When the pastor sees little change after faithfully and
passionately proclaiming the Word it can tend to frustration and even anger.
Pray for your pastor, and take to heart his preaching.
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