4. Confess Your Sins to Them. (Matthew 7:3-5)
Here, we are wise to remember the speck and the plank. We conservative evangelicals may be doctrinally tidy and theologically tucked in, but we all too often live lives that unsay our own creed. The planks of conservative Christians are legion. Jerry Bridges speaks of “respectable sins,” such as ungodliness, sinful anxiety and frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience, irritability, self-righteous and short-fused anger, judgementalism, jealousy, gossip, pragmatism—and the list goes on and on.
Wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, gluttony—the seven deadly sins—are all too often, for many evangelicals, the seven daily sins. Using Jesus’ yardstick in Matthew 7:26-27). Liberals need to see us doing business with the gospel like this if we hope to see them do business with that same gospel.
5. Correct Them. (2 Timothy 2:22-24)
Finally, 2 Timothy 2:22-24 provides one of the most succinct approaches as it relates to correcting those in doctrinal error. By God’s grace, in the strength that he supplies, freshly forgiven of your own sins, don’t quarrel, but be kind to everyone, teach, patiently endure evil and correct your opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance!
And how do we begin the correction? C.J. Mahaney offers us seven magic words: “Would you be open to an observation?” If they indicate that they are not, don’t press. If they aren’t open, you may ask yourself whether or not you’ve given them reason to open up.
Have you sought to understand, appreciate, empathize with and confess your sins to them? These tend to grease the skids for the seven magic words. Ask them if they’re open to an observation, and then attempt to remove the speck. Stay close to the gospel, which is always our issue “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
