I almost punched someone the other day...

Seriously.

The Guy had said something really stupid and unnecessary about bearing more responsibilities and workloads to a Girl who was already facing a lot of internal pressure, stress and perhaps a bit of burnout. And as he said it, I saw my fist reaching out, and smashing the smug grin off his face. But God kept me calm and gentle, and my fists open and by my side. And I very gently, very kindly, very softly rebuked him about his unhelpful comment and attitude.

Anyway, let's not worry about the fact that I coulda taken him on, but let's rather focus on the issue of thinking through what we say, how we say it, when we say it. Particularly with regards to being rebuked, and rebuking others. I mean, I'm all for it, but I've been reminded of two important things recently:

1) Hebrews 5:2 talks about the responsibilities of the high priest: "He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness". Now if this passage is speaking about the human high priests, how much more gently must Jesus have been in dealing with those going astray? And if Jesus is the one we are to be following, we too should be dealing gently with those going astray.

2) "For moral criticism to be responsible, it must be addressed to an audience belonging to the tradition criticized who can respond to it" (Tala Asad "A comment on Translation, Critique, and Subversion"). This quote is from a reading I'm doing for Translation Theories, and it's actually speaking about the responsibility ethnographers have to the culture and peoples they have written about. But as I read it, I suddenly realized how appropriate it is for our interaction with each other- it's not fair to talk about other people behind their backs. If you're really concerned about rebuking them, say it straight to their face!

So let's make life easier for tired, busy girls and think twice before we just speak. But if you do, and end up getting punched... You have been warned!!