The Blessing of Confrontation
Ezekiel 3:17-21:
“At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me (Ezekiel): “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for a their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
We all have a duty to warn others and show them their sins, not to judge them but to help save them from themselves. God uses us to help others when they are off the path of righteousness and growth. If we neglect to bring problems to each other’s attention, we bear some responsibility for the outcome. When we confront others in the right way, they have a choice and may ignore our warning. But we will not have participated in their destructiveness. Even more, they may remember our words at a later time and act accordingly, and our words will have borne fruit.
For example, when modern psychological researchers began studying addictions, they realized that most of the time addicts do not live in a vacuum. Instead, they live in a system of relationships. Some of those relationships serve to enable their behavior, that is, someone unwittingly tries to keep the addict from suffering the consequences and effects of the addiction. In an attempt to help, the enabler rescues the addict from the discomfort that would drive the person to face and solve the problem. When the enabler becomes aware of this and allows the addict to feel pain, healing can begin.
Be a part of the solution and, in love, warn those who are veering too close to the edge. It could save a life.
Find more insightful commentary from Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, read the NIV Life Journey Bible, which combines the world’s most accessible Bible translation with exclusive boundaries teaching.
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