“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” (1Ti 5:20, KJV)
(Full disclosure: I decided to quote the KJV instead of the ESV for this one, because in the ESV, it says "persist in sin", implying to me that you have to wait until a pattern of sin occurs to rebuke someone. I doubt that, correct me if I'm wrong (Proverbs 6:23) )
Another story time!
On at least two occurrences at work, someone has been publicly called out for being negligent in their duties, whether as a safety violation or not be cognizant of temperature and acting accordingly. In both occurrences, the one who committed the negligence was given severe words on their conduct. In one instance, it was warned that the next occurrence would result in a write-up.
In every instance, such verbal reprimands were in my earshot, especially concerning the warning about the write-up. This stuck to me, because I hate write-ups. Why? Because to me, it is a mark, a visible sign, of dishonor.
So, I called these experiences a "secondhand reprimand". I didn't do it, but it felt like I did.
Which reminded me of the above Scripture. I've heard of other places in Scripture where public rebuke occurred, such as in Galatians 2:14:
“But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”” (Gal 2:14, ESV)
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