Learning is the process of getting from a point of not knowing something to a point of understanding. It’s a journey. Think back to when you were in school. There are a few exceptions, but the general rule when it comes to instruction is that we need to figure out what is right and what isn’t. There is almost always a source of information, and that can be a text book, a teacher, a tutor, or a combination of them. Often this journey involves making mistakes and being corrected. To learn to add and subtract, or spell a new word, or read a book, you need to make mistakes and learn from them. When we study the Bible, we are told how to live and what to do in our lives, but we are incapable of getting it right 100% perfectly. So since we are part of a body, part of a church, we are a member of a larger group, and that means we have people that are around to help us. There are people whose jobs are mostly to serve by teaching, and they are pastors. But the Bible tells us that each and every of our brothers and sisters can teach and admonish one another. This works as long as we are using Scripture for our source of truth, and we are doing it with love. There will be moments that I like to call “teaching moments”. These times allow us to bring someone gently back to the correct path. It’s easier not to do this, but we do it because of love, and to glorify God. I am going to focus the rest of the post to discuss a certain point in the teaching and learning process. This point of the learning process is called correction, and my main focus is not on giving correction, but on receiving it. My first point is this:

How we respond to correction determines how much we grow.

Proverbs 12:1
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.

This first passage explains that with discipline comes knowledge. The path to become wise is one that is marked with discipline. When you learn, you need to either put something in your mind that wasn’t there before, or you need to fix something that was already in your mind but was incorrect. It’s not easy to do either of these things. They don’t come naturally, so discipline is required to learn anything well. This process is uncomfortable. It takes a lot of work, but it’s not only that. It also means we have to admit we were ignorant or incorrect. We don’t like to be told we’re wrong. The immediate natural way to respond to correction is defense. If someone corrects me, I immediately want to defend myself. Usually this means explaining my way of thinking and why I believe it to be right. This tells us something about human nature. Sinful Human nature will take a moment that you are supposed to learn something, and use it to try and teach the person who is correcting you. Let’s say I am in a doctor’s office waiting room, and there is a sign that says no cell phones. Of course here I am talking. Maybe I didnt see the sign. Maybe I did, but ignored it. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Now the receptionist tells me of their policy and corrects me. There are many ways I can respond to this.

1. “I couldn’t see your sign. You should probably make it bigger, or post it somewhere else.” See, the moment I am corrected, suddenly I become an expert on font size, graphic design, and office aesthetics. That’s not a gift of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t just get a flash of insight about how to post signs in offices. That’s what my sin does. How about response #2?
2. “I am talking to my co-worker. This is very important because I am a professional _____ and my job requires me to be available for ______.” So right here, I assume this poor receptionist cares who I am and what I do for a job. On top of that, I am also puffing myself up and my “assistant to the vice-general manager of the executive regional-sales coordinator” job. Even if I am required to take calls, my job doesn’t require I take them in the waiting room. I can go out in the hall.
3. “I was just finishing up. I get that people shouldn’t be on the phone, but my call was short, and you should really be more understanding.” This response seems a bit nicer. I concede that the rule is good, but in the end, I make myself an exception, and end up telling them why I am above their rule. I also accuse them of a lack of understanding, when I am the one who is being corrected.
4. Hang up the phone and think in my head, “This receptionist is strict… And kind of rude! And who does she think she is ordering me around like that?” In this case, even though I hang up, I am unapologetic. I do what she says, but then I proceed to judge her heart. I accuse her of strictness. I accuse her of rudeness and then I accuse her of pride. I notice a possibly imagined speck in her eye, and miss the plank in mine.
5. Apologize to her, and understand that I am not a special case. I don’t deserve special treatment. I am not in my own property and I don’t make the rules here. I don’t have a say in where the sign goes, or how big the font is. There is nothing wrong with the person correcting me. They aren’t mean, and they probably don’t want to be correcting me, any more than I want to be corrected.

The Bible tells us that #5 is the only correct way to respond in that teaching moment. This example might seem a little silly, and unimportant in the grand scheme of life. But the Bible tells us to behave a certain way around other people. The way we relate to our fellow humans shows us how we relate towards God. The way we follow instruction and take correction regarding human matters translates into the way we respond to correction when it involves God’s commandments and Biblical teaching. If I don’t respond to correction right.. If I hate correction… God’s word is calling me stupid. When faced with correction we have two alternatives. We can either HEED correction or HATE correction. Let’s read Proverbs 15:31-33

31 Whoever heeds life-giving correction
will be at home among the wise.
32 Those who disregard discipline despise themselves,
but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.
33 Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord,
and humility comes before honor.

Verse 31 tells us that When we HEED correction, we become wise. Verse 32 says we gain understanding. When we HATE correction, we are stupid. And by being stupid, verse 32 says we end up despising ourselves. Being content to continue to be wrong means being content to not grow and change. It’s a form of despising yourself because you are ok with stagnating. I am not saying this to condemn any one person or group of people in particular. We are all guilty of this. I know I am. This is how we are. We need to change this in ourselves first. But it’s also important to teach this to younger children. If you tell your son or daughter to not do something, and they start by responding, “But I was just….” this may be a teaching moment. You recognize that they are trying to teach you when they need to be taught. It’s not that what they are have to say is unimportant, but they won’t learn correctly if they are busy making excuses for themselves. The last verse (33) says Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and Humility comes before honor. When we are corrected, it should be humbling. This brings me to my next point.

How we respond to correction shows us our heart.

Over the years, I have been in church congregations and small groups and youth groups and Bible studies. I heard many messages. Listened to many sermons, and discussions and seminars. Sometimes, the message really touches my heart and gives me a feeling of conviction. Usually, that leads to repentance and prayer. But sometimes, the message makes me feel angry. I get defensive. Sometimes I am defensive even to the point of being mad at the pastor or small group leader. I get this idea in my head that the person is trying to attack me personally. I start to question. “why did he say that?” “that was for me” “why is he singling me out” “what is his problem with me?” “how did he know that” “did I rub him the wrong way at some point?”.. But what I am really doing at those moments is fighting with the Holy Spirit. The reason I am identifying with the message in the first place is only because of God’s Grace. God used the Holy Spirit to open my heart and my mind to the idea that I could be wrong about something. If it’s something that I am struggling with, parts of the message will be illuminated to me, or become clear. To be honest, the pastor or discussion leader is never singling me out. He is giving a message to a group. The idea that I am being singled out is just my pride again, telling me that I am more important than the general group. The way we respond to correction will show us what’s going on in our hearts. There is an entire post about the heart if you want to read more. When I open my mind to correction, what this is saying is I trust in my heart that God’s teaching is better than my own ideas. When I get defensive, I see that my heart is hardened.

Let’s give another quick example. If I preached a message about addiction, and attempted to correct behavior, a listener’s response can tell us about that person’s heart. Whether or not that person kicks the particular habit I preached about will not send them to heaven or hell. But how they receive the message about addiction might indicate how they receive another more important message – the Gospel. If you are humble about the idea of having one of your sins corrected, you are most likely humble about the idea of being a sinner and needing a savior. If you have pride and defensiveness about one sin, it may indicate pridefulness and defensiveness about many more of your sins, and even your very sinful nature. This indicator of our heart is also a good way to see if we are living in Grace or in our works. Why? The only time we can receive God’s Grace is when we understand our need for it. If we don’t think we need Jesus, how can we receive Him? And in order to recognize our need, we need to be humble. If we are too proud, our defenses, explanations, and excuses for our sins are what we are using for our justification, not Christ. Humility is so important, it’s mentioned again and again

Proverbs 3:34 He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

When we understand the need for humility, we can begin to learn.  Learning means admitting you are wrong, or uninformed.  Learning means accepting mistakes. Learning gets harder the more we age. Kids are getting told they’re wrong all the time. Teachers at school mark their homework and tests in red. Parents discipline and train and punish their kids. Kids who go to school are professional learners, and when they get home, there is more learning that happens.  Although kids can be stubborn at times, I’ve found that older people are more set in their ways, more stubborn, and less flexible to learn. Jesus reminded us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (children).  So when we are trying to become better at learning and growing, it makes sense to think back to when we were younger.  We can also use prayer as a tool to engage God, petitioning and asking Him to guide and help us to learn and grow. The church will benefit as we take our growth seriously.