Iron Sharpening Iron

Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.
- Proverbs 27:17

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Have you ever seen iron sharpening iron?

There is contact, impact, friction and heat. It is far from a soft, comfortable process.

In the Bible, we read of Paul confronting Peter (Galatians 2:11-13), Samuel confronting David (II Samuel 12:1-15) and Christ confronting both His disciples (Matthew 16:23) and His opponents (John 8:39-59).

Modern society's considerations of decorum and social propriety tend to carry with them an underestimation of the value of confrontation and conflict. Argument tends to be seen as universally negative. Many people seem unable to even be challenged in their thinking without taking personal offense.

We welcome and celebrate direct challenges when it comes to athletics and video games and learning new skills, but we tend to balk when we are challenged by others - even close friends and loved ones - in the Body of Christ. We seem to think peace and unity entail a complete and total lack of conflict. 

They don't. Iron sharpens iron because of the intensity of the process - it will not be sharpened by velvet or silk. 

It's time we both started welcoming challenges and stopped being afraid of issuing them.