Connection Validates Correction

It’s about 9 pm at night when there’s a knock at your door. You go to the door to find me standing there with a stern look on my face. You notice in my hand a piece of wood with a handle. You haven’t seen one of those things in a while but you recognize it so you say,

“Rusty, it’s kind of late, what are you doing here? And by the way, is that a paddle in your hand?”

I reply, “Yes, it is, where is your son?” You’re kind of taken a back by my attitude and you don’t quite know what I’m up to, but you say, “He’s up in his room, what do you want?”

I reply, “My son is in his classroom and he told me that your son smarted off to his teacher today and really misbehaved in his fifth grade science class. I’ve come to paddle him.”

You can’t believe your ears. “You’ve come to what?”

“I’ve come to paddle him. I’m going to teach him not to talk back to his teacher”

You say, “O no you’re not! Johnny is my son not yours! He belongs to me and if anyone paddles him, it’s going to be me. Leave me your paddle and go home.”

Now listen, You would be right to do that. You see, I have no right to correct your children because your children are not part of my family, they are not connected to me. But even though you might not want me to discipline your children, I guarantee you that you really want me to discipline my own children because, if I don’t, they’re liable to grow up to terrorize the neighborhood and steal your stuff. Here’s the point: It is the connection that validates the correction. If you are a part of the church family and you get out of line, you ought to expect to be corrected, that’s what being connected is all about.