10/29/2026, 08:19 AM
A while back I got into a conversation online with a man who denies that Jesus is God. I opened by calling him brother and asking how he reads John 1:1, because I honestly couldn’t reconcile it with his position.
He didn’t answer the verse. He told me to spend more time warning people to repent, and then God would open my eyes.
I told him I read Scripture for what it says and try to live it by loving God and my neighbor. Over the next few days he called my position stupid, called me an idolater, told me I wasn’t his brother and then blocked me.
What stuck with me wasn’t the block. It was that he saw gentleness itself as the problem. To him, if you weren’t hammering people, you weren’t serious.
Paul seems to see it the other way:
But Paul also says to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort” (2 Timothy 4:2), and to warn a divisive person once, twice, and then be done (Titus 3:10). So gentle isn’t the same as silent.
Where’s the line for you? When does correction need to be firm, and how do you keep firm from turning into what that man did?
He didn’t answer the verse. He told me to spend more time warning people to repent, and then God would open my eyes.
I told him I read Scripture for what it says and try to live it by loving God and my neighbor. Over the next few days he called my position stupid, called me an idolater, told me I wasn’t his brother and then blocked me.
What stuck with me wasn’t the block. It was that he saw gentleness itself as the problem. To him, if you weren’t hammering people, you weren’t serious.
Paul seems to see it the other way:
2 Timothy 2:24-26 (Berean Standard Bible)24And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. 25He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. 26Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.
But Paul also says to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort” (2 Timothy 4:2), and to warn a divisive person once, twice, and then be done (Titus 3:10). So gentle isn’t the same as silent.
Where’s the line for you? When does correction need to be firm, and how do you keep firm from turning into what that man did?