I was with someone the other day and we were talking about ministry matters, and he made a comment that he thought that a particular friend of his was critical of other ministers.
I know the man he made reference to and was a little surprised on his take, so we discussed it further.
After listening and weighing the conversation my reflection to him was this:
There is a difference between critiquing and being critical.
Critique: a detailed evaluation, a review, a comment on a problem or a subject, to analyze critically.
Critical: inclined to find fault, to judge with severity and often to readily.
As I reflected on our conversation, I have come to the conclusion that I believe my friend as fallen into the trap of thinking the way many with a liberal theology tend to think. He thinks everyone should just get on and everything will be fine. That everyone should be allowed to make their own way, that no one should make comment or critique. I was shocked, because this is a problem with most people who allow there theology to be set by the times and not by the word.
The verse he quoted was Matthew 7 : “ Judge not, that you be not judged”
Now this is a verse that is often used like a hammer anytime that someone is trying to think through an issue, the clear implication is that we can never have an opinion or judge a persons action as sin.
We are not allowed to assess if the preacher on Christian Entertainment Television has a mandate to minister, when you have just found out that they are on there fourth divorce and are being charged for embezzlement…. sounds bizarre if you put it like that.
Dan Lacich’s thoughts on this verse I found very refreshing:
What is possibly more amazing than the fact that so many people quote this verse and the concept of not judging, is that so many people could get the real meaning so completely wrong. This is especially true since the context makes it clear what Jesus meant by these words. When Jesus said that we should not judge unless we be judged also, he was not saying that we are to never judge if behavior is sin or not. What he was doing was giving us a caution to make sure that we are willing to be judged by the same standard of judgment. This verse is not a warning against judging an action. It is a warning against self deception and hypocrisy.
The bottom line, I believe, is that before we ever start critiquing another, we must be critical of our own life. Am I aware of the log in my own eye? Am I aware of the state of my own heart, my own life? Am I prepared to deal with my own log before I lovingly help a brother with the speck in his eye?
For pastors and shepherds this is very important: position doesn’t remove you from this responsibility, it requires it. We have a responsibility to deal with logs and specks on a daily basis.
Another thing is that the Bible is full of is the urgent plea for people to flee temptation, to run from sin, to avoid the company of foolish or ignorant people, and on all of these occasions we are going to have to make judgement calls on attitudes, actions, and belief systems. We are going to have to make judgment calls as to whether or not they line up with the word of God and the conduct of a follower of Christ.
Friend, when was the last time you watched Christian Entertainment Television? Some of the people who run these stations and appear on the most popular programs, their life and lifestyle wouldn’t pass through the sieve of Paul’s epistles in any way, shape, or form….
This is not an issue of conjecture but of public record, this is not an issue of personality assassination but the reflection on the the public statement of their theology.
The catch cry of “do not be judgmental” should in no way intimidate or stop soemone from deciding if an action is sinful, if a person is living worthy of the name Christian, or if their preaching is biblical or not. In fact I believe that is the personal and corporate mandate of every mature believer and the responsibility of every mature leader.
As my associate pastor put it: sometimes the best way a shepherd can protect the sheep is to give them a description of a wolf.
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www.provokeblog.org
www.clctx.org