Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:24-26
Not every error we hear needs to be corrected—and if it does, time and place are important.
When I was a younger man, God kindly brought a lot of solid doctrinal teaching my way. By His grace He developed in me a measure of discernment. Sadly, I was not always gracious in what I did with that discernment. I had enough knowledge to spot biblical and theological error from a distance and often felt compelled to correct every error—sometimes on the spot.
Aquila and Priscilla discerned that Apollos needed come correction, so “they took him aside,” not to rebuke him, but to “explain” truth more accurately. From this let us note the following:
Correction should not normally be done in front of people. While there are exceptions since others may be adversely affected, generally correction is easier to receive when done in private than in public.(1) This is true for parents correcting their children as well. Humiliating the child is more hurtful than helpful!
Explaining is better than excoriating. Let us seek to correct in a manner than blesses rather than blasts! The goal is to hep the person, not to be right.
Lastly, there is so much error in this world that we are wise to realize that the Lord has not appointed any of us to correct every error we encounter. This is especially true regarding matters of inconsequential importance. Nobody likes a self-appointed know-it-all.
(1) It is often appropriate to name false teachers whose ministries are public, and especially if they have a large following. The point is not to slander the person, but to warn those who may unknowingly be following dangerous people.