Rebuking

Duncan Sinclair

WHENEVER one learns something of the teachings of Christian Science, he begins to look upon rebuking very differently from what used to be his wont. In former days evil seemed very real to him; he believed with the world in general that good and evil were equally true; and he thought, moreover, that both good and evil were essentially personal. Consequently, he lauded what he called the good man and condemned the evildoer. Whoever was in error, whoever wandered from the path of rectitude, was liable to rebuke. Sometimes the rebuke was mild; often it was delivered with a sting of anger or bitterness behind it. And many a time the rebuker wondered afterwards why the effort had not been more reformative, why the wrongdoer did not show more contrition after the exposure of his evil doing!

Now, it is true that rebuking has its legitimate place in Christian warfare. Paul admonished Timothy to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." The Greek word translated "rebuke" in the King James Version of the Bible also means to "charge directly." Hence Paul considered that it might be necessary for Timothy to have to rebuke certain errors or "charge directly" those converts to Christianity who came under his supervision, with their mistakes or faults. But notice the apostle's qualifying words, "with all longsuffering and doctrine," or "teaching," as the Revised Version has it. The abrupt or harsh rebuke was neither sanctioned nor advised by Paul; the angry rebuke was unchristian, and would defeat the purposes of good; the straightforward charge must be made, with patience and with firmness and with the desire to correct, since to correct is always an aim in teaching. Referring to the method of rebuking of Christ Jesus, Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 53), "He rebuked sinners pointedly and unflinchingly, because he was their friend; hence the cup he drank." Jesus was their friend! Therein lay the secret of his success. He was the friend of all mankind, of rich and poor, high and low, righteous and sinner alike. Never once did the greatly humble Nazarene stand aloof from humanity in need of his aid; neither did he fail to rebuke the evil in the thought of those suffering from its supposititious presence, thereby healing them through his knowledge of evil's nothingness.

It is of the utmost importance to recognize the fact that Christ Jesus looked upon the belief of evil as distinct from man, God's spiritual idea, in precisely the same way as is done in Christian Science. It was of little or no consequence what form the evil took. If it assumed that of lunacy, he rebuked the "devil," the lie, and the case was healed. If it took the form of a fever, as in the instance of Simon's wife's mother, he "rebuked the fever; and it left her." Evil to Jesus the Christ was always an impersonal negation, always a lie. He destroyed the lie by knowing its falsity; and the sufferer was released.

The teaching of Christian Science is particularly clear on the question of rebuking. It has done away forever with the belief in the necessity of the snarl. Our revered Leader, on page 210 of "Miscellaneous Writings," shows how the method of scientific rebuke is indissolubly welded to charity. "Charity is Love," she says, "and Love opens the eyes of the blind, rebukes error, and casts it out. Charity never flees before error, lest it should suffer from an encounter." Wonderfully true words these, full of spiritual meaning, words uttered from profound experience in the demonstration of the truth! The demand upon every student of Christian Science is that he cultivate charity. His power to do good, to bless mankind, to help his fellow-men out of the wretched, sinful ways into which many of them have sunk, will depend on his charity, itself dependent on his understanding of the divine Principle, Love. If he be lacking in this understanding, his efforts will prove of little avail in the healing of sickness and sin, because without spiritual understanding he will be but employing the methods of the so-called human mind, unenlightened by Truth and Love.

The Christian teaching of Christian Science is also brought out very forcibly in "A Rule for Motives and Acts" (Manual, Art. VIII, Sec. 1). A sentence in this unsurpassed guide to Christian motive and conduct reads, "In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness." Here, once more, it is pointed out that divine Love must be the actuating force, the governing power behind all corrective methods. It may require much purification of self before that ideal is attained. But there it is, demanding recognition, and insisting that only as one reflects the Love that knows no evil can he, scientifically and in a Christian manner, rebuke the false claims of evil to their discomfiture and destruction.

Duncan Sinclair.

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