Articles
Public Corrections
When Johnny is sitting at his desk at school and writes with his pencil "2 + 2 = 5," the teacher may look over his shoulder and privately call attention to his error. Johnny can, almost unnoticed, take his eraser and rub out his mistake. The class may never know that Johnny mis-added "2 + 2."
But if Johnny writes "2 + 2 = 5" on the chalk board, and all the class is watching, the teacher does not really correct the error if she says nothing to the class, pats Johnny approvingly on the head, and then later takes him aside and explains his mistake privately. Nor can Johnny, upon discovering the error himself, sit and correct privately at his desk with a pencil eraser the mistake he made publicly at the chalk board. "Two plus two is four, Johnny," says the teacher before the whole class, and the mistake that was made at the chalk board is corrected at the chalk board.
"But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all..." (Galatians 2:11-14). "Them that sin rebuke before all..." (1 Timothy 5:20).
Private sins and personal differences are properly to be corrected privately. Nothing is gained by publicity. But public error is properly to be corrected publicly. Remember, the mistake that is made at the chalk board before the whole class is not fully corrected with a pencil eraser at the desk after school.
