Should Church Leaders Be Corrected Privately or Publicly?
Since the Word of Truth is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16), let’s see what it says on this particular issue:
17The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” a and “The worker deserves his wages.” b 19Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
1 Timothy 5:17-21
The topic is “elders who direct the affairs of the church… especially those whose work is preaching and teaching,” which means fivefold ministers, i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Someone might object to this on the grounds that Paul was referring specifically to “elders.” Using the hermeneutical rule that “Scripture interprets Scripture,” what exactly is a Church elder in the biblical sense? In Acts 20:17 and 20:28 Paul tells the elders (presbuteros) to shepherd or pastor (poimainó) the flock of God over whom the Holy Spirit made them overseers (episkopos). Poimainó, by the way, is the verb form of the noun for pastor, which is poimén (Ephesians 4:11). This shows that elders, shepherds and overseers refer to those in the fivefold ministry.
When such a leader in the body of Christ is caught in a serious sin — like adultery, fornication, theft, slander, drug obsession or damaging doctrines — they are to be “reproved before everyone” or “rebuked in the presence of all,” according to verse 20. Why not correct them privately? The verse goes on to explain: “so that the others may take warning.” The “others” refers to current fivefold ministers, as well as up-and-coming ones.
It is true that the initial method of confrontation & correction between believers in general is a private matter, as detailed by the Lord in Luke 17:3-4 and Matthew 18:15-17. In these instances, the matter should only be brought to the attention of other believers if the offender is stubbornly impenitent, which you can read about here.
However, when leaders in the body of Christ — whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers — seriously fall into sin, they are be corrected publicly. This is assuming, of course, that the accusation is true, which verse 19 says must be verified by at least two or three credible witnesses. This naturally makes it difficult for lying troublemakers to cause strife in the Church.
A good example of a public correction of a Church leader is John’s reference to Diotrephes:
9I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction. 10So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church.
3 John 1:9-10
Diotrephes was the pastor of one of the assemblies in John’s circuit of churches. We know this because only the pastor of a fellowship has the authority to excommunicate people and prevent leaders approved by someone of John’s stature from ministering. As you can see in verse 10, John was intent on rebuking this carnal pastor in front of the congregation.
Another way to effectively rebuke a sinful minister is to do so privately and then have the penitent elder confess before the believers. I saw this done at one fellowship. Whether or not the minister should step down from public ministry for a season in order to “get it together” spiritually depends on how severe the sin was and the leading of the Spirit.
For anyone who says this is hard on ministers, it explains passages like these:
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”
In other words, if a believer can’t handle the responsibility of being a servant-leader in the Church, they shouldn’t enter into the fivefold ministry.
One last thing, if you think a minister is guilty of false doctrine, make sure you can prove your case through multiple passages and rightly-dividing the Scriptures. As noted at the beginning of this article, it’s the God-breathed Scriptures that are “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), not man-made religious doctrines that aren’t actually biblical.
Related Topics:
What if You KNOW a Confrontation Will Turn UGLY?
Should You “Obey” Your Pastor?
Ministerial Pitfalls and Abuses
Ministerial Abuse — The Diotrephes Spirit vs. the Davidic Spirit
Condemnation & Authoritarianism
Should Ministers Be Addressed with Titles?
Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms
Godliness and Religion—What’s the Difference?
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