2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
We are left on this earth after salvation to bring others to Christ to receive the same salvation and freedom from sin. That is our mission.
We were set free to bring others out of the captivity of the devil. Jesus came to save, not to judge. Judgment comes at Second Coming and it is He who will do the judging. That doesn't mean we cannot call sin, sin, but it does mean we do not rant and rave sounding like we are thrilled that people are going to Hell.
It is hard to find some preachers/Christians to be true servants of the Lord by the description in this passage of the job requirements. Too many are harsh and cruel. Because of that some will go too far the other way to try and offset the harm caused by the ones who are too harsh. No extreme is good, We must seek balance. Note that there is nothing in this passage about political correctness or sugar coating your message. It does speak to delivery style and that reveals your heart attitude. If you say you preach a gospel of grace given to you by a God of mercy and love then your gestures and tone should reflect that.
During WWII, our troops did not liberate a POW or Jewish internment camp by going in and brutally beating the prisoners as they were being told that the soldiers had come to set them free. No, they treated the prisoners with gentleness and provided care for them during the transition to freedom. Yet, we bash sinners about their imprisonment by their sin while we say God loves them and so do we. Really? We are not to strive and yet we go to battle with the prisoners and not the real enemy who made them captive. Jesus led captivity free. He did not brow beat them before He did it.
He did not bitterly rant and chastise the woman at the well or the one taken in adultery before He forgave and saved them. He was gentle with both. Indeed, by merely writing in the sand he was gentle to the ones who would have stoned her. He could have called each of them by name and called out their sin publicly. Instead, he let their own conscience convict them as He wrote. That is not how many would have done it. We are to be gentle to all, not just the ones who share the weakness to the our personal sins or our ethnic group.
Since our culture is no longer immersed in the Scripture as it once was, many sinners need to be taught the basics. They sin because they are sinners, but also because they do not know they are sinners because they were taught we are only high tech monkeys and there is no God, but themselves
that makes the rules. They may even have some form of religion that does not have the same standards for good and evil as the Word teaches. Gentle teaching is required. You have to plant the seed and water it praying God will give the increase in that person's soul. If you have been taught that two plus two is five all your life it will take some patient teaching by someone to change your mind.
If your attitude is one of meekness where you are seeking the glory of God and not your own then you will be able to understand the principles given in this passage. You will not take their rejection or rancor personally because they are not truly opposing you but God and themselves by not accepting the truth. They have been taken captive by the devil. They are like a wounded animal that lashes out at a person trying to help it. The pain and the lack of trust is delaying their healing. They just don't know that. That is why God has to do the work of grace in them that will allow them to repent and accept the truth. After all it has always been God's work but He calls us to prepare the way. Maranatha!
