May your silver perish with you. Acts 8.20
Peter said that in public to Simon, who came to faith after a life in the dark arts. Of course, offering money for the Holy Spirit is very bad, but don’t forget he was just a toddler Christian. And even if he were a seasoned disciple, Peter’s rebuke would never be allowed in an age like ours that distrusts authority and protects emotion above all. Yet, Paul actually instructed churches to discipline wayward members with shame (2 Thessalonians 3.14-15). Once he even shamed an entire church (1 Corinthians 6.4-5). Peter’s example may be descriptive (or not), but Paul’s words are as prescriptive as the rest of his epistles. Those two aren’t alone, either. The Bible is replete with sharp, sometimes sarcastic sayings about saints and their sins.
We enjoy a good thrashing when aimed at Pharisees, but he wasn’t coy about his disappointment with the disciples.
In fact, Jesus himself could speak that way. We enjoy a good thrashing when aimed at Pharisees, but he wasn’t coy about his disappointment with the disciples. While they were still basically interns, he sighed about the generation’s unbelief and complained that their faith was too weak to do their job (Matthew 17.14-20)! Try that at your next staff meeting. Or don’t. Our age is uniquely sensitive, but the people of God have never liked being called out. More importantly, these examples don’t give you permission to vent years of ministerial frustration. They do, however, remind you that loving shepherds don’t always speak softly even if that’s what the church expects of them.
