Read the Large Catechism with me.
Ten-minute studies on short readings from the Large Catechism.
Let's do this.
Click on the link below and read the short assigned reading. Then, if you have time, check out what I have to say about it. If not, no problem. Just soak up the goodness of the LC.
The Eighth Commandment Part 3: Click here and read 274 - 283.
The basics:
- This commandment does not allow evil to go unpunished. Civil government, preachers, and parents are excepted from this when they are doing functions of their office. If they fail to judge and condemn wrongs, they sin as well. Luther goes on to include brothers and sisters and good friends in the role of reproving evil in someone when it is needed.
- In Matthew 18:15-17, we hear Christ's words on confronting someone who has privately wronged you. In this verse, we are told to go to someone personally with a complaint. If the person changes, we have regained our relationship with them. If they don't listen, we are to take a couple witnesses of their behavior with us when confronting.
- It is our responsibility to also teach others to go to the person privately when they begin to speak poorly of someone.
- We are to seek to regain our brother by rebuking his sin privately. If we go around talking about his sin to others without his knowledge, no one will be reformed. If we were acting for our neighbor's best interest and love of truth, we would not sneak around to say things behind their backs.
My thoughts today:
Most people hate confrontation. Sure, there are the people who thrive on the abrupt confrontation and like to start brawls with everyone. But I am speaking about people who genuinely want to attempt a peaceful confrontation with someone. Ugh. It can make your stomach turn just thinking about it.
In my life before babies, I was a hall director in college residence halls. We had these things called "roommate contracts" that were supposed to be filled out to avoid negative confrontations later. No one ever cared about doing their roommate contract until about two or three months into the school year when their roommate wouldn't stop hitting the snooze button 17 times and it was literally going to kill them if they had to listen to it for one. more. day.
But naturally, they were not able to tell their roommates this. However, they were certainly able to tell their friends, their friends' friends, and all of the internet this.
Because that is how we get around confrontation. We think we know best, and it feels better to tell everyone else how bad our situation is because so-and-so is doing these terrible things. But somehow, so-and-so keeps getting avoided.
What I am about to tell you may not seem like rocket science, but it certainly helped many college students address that snooze alarm issue (along with other more pressing concerns). And it has helped me a number of times, as well. Because, let's face it, gentle confrontation is hard.
1. Is there anything you could do to improve your relationship with someone? Find your annoying habits or your misdeeds and make an effort to change those and apologize for those before seeking to change someone else.
2. Consider the reasons someone else's behavior has hurt or wronged you personally. Make some mental notes about how this has hurt you and made you feel.
3. Go to the person, and share how their actions have made you feel. Avoid all words like "always" or "never." They are rarely truthful and usually used just out of anger. Attack the sin, not the person. Say, "I felt very hurt when you lied about...." Don't say, "You are a liar."
4. Seek to understand their position by listening to them.
5. Forgive them.
