Christian, Are You Scolding Sinners While They Drown?

It would help if you extended your hand first.

Photo by Luca Nardone from Pexels

In Aesop’s Fable called “A Boy Bathing,” a young boy goes down to the river to bathe but quickly finds himself in water over his head. The boy was in great danger of being drowned.

As he struggled to keep his head above water, a man passed by on the road and saw the boy trying to remain afloat. The man walked down to the riverbank and proceeded to scold the boy for being so foolish.

The young boy responded, “Oh sir, please help me first and scold me afterwards.”

The story reminded me of Peter's walking on water to Jesus (Matthew 14:25-33). As he began to walk, he noticed the mighty wind around him and began to sink.

Peter cried out for the Lord to help him - and what did Jesus do? Did He scold Peter while Peter was in the middle of drowning?

No - Jesus reached down, caught Peter, and then said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).

I believe we learn a valuable lesson here - it does little good to stand back and scold someone for their sin if we aren't reaching out a hand to help them.

Would you shake your head and chide a drowning person for being foolish? Or would you do everything in your power to save their life? After they were saved from drowning, then you would say to them, “What were you thinking?”

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

Restoring a fallen child of God does not merely involve standing to the side and scolding them for having fallen into sin.

Restoring that person also includes reaching out to pull them out of the trap they have fallen into - in fact, reaching out to them should happen first.

When the Pharisees complained that Jesus was eating with and teaching sinners (Luke 15:1-2), Jesus responded with three parables.

The first two parables demonstrated the importance of going after and finding those who are lost. The last parable - the Parable of the Prodigal Son - showed the failure of the older brother to search for his lost brother. He spoke against all his brother had done - but hadn’t put forth the effort to bring him home.

Christians, it does little good to scold a person drowning in sin if we won’t reach out our hand to pull them from Satan’s trap.