“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our
ministry will not be discredited” (2 Cor. 6:3).

“Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the
church of God” (2 Cor. 10:32).

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the
hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear
conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in
Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15-16).

One of the most effective means of evangelism is to keep
from stumbling unbelievers. Read how Paul does it in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10:

“Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every
way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings,
imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity,
understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in
the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good
report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown;
dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing
everything.”

Amazing, isn’t it! Are we willing to apply this list in our
lives so that people will be saved? It is easy to stumble unbelievers—we can do
that without trying. If we live godly lives in Christ Jesus, we will suffer
persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), but the persecutor will feel ashamed because of
his slander.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our
ministry will not be discredited” (2 Cor. 6:3).

“Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the
church of God” (2 Cor. 10:32).

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the
hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear
conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in
Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15-16).

One of the most effective means of evangelism is to keep
from stumbling unbelievers. Read how Paul does it in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10:

“Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every
way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings,
imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity,
understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in
the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good
report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown;
dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing
everything.”

Amazing, isn’t it! Are we willing to apply this list in our
lives so that people will be saved? It is easy to stumble unbelievers—we can do
that without trying. If we live godly lives in Christ Jesus, we will suffer
persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), but the persecutor will feel ashamed because of
his slander.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

And when the strife is fierce,

The warfare long

Steals on the ear

The distant triumph song

And hearts are brave again

And arms are strong.

Alleluia, alleluia.

– William W. How, 19^th Century

“But
thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and
through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are
to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are
perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of
life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).

The
song in my head caused me to think of the Scripture. Triumph is more
than just victory. It is the celebration of victory. Paul says that it is in
the present, and the song says that it is in the future. In any case, it is a
sure thing.

This post coordinates with tomorrow’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

It is relatively easy to believe great things of God as in
Psalm 33:6, 9:

“By the word of the
LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth…. For
he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

It seems more difficult to believe great things of God when it
has to do with us:

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always
lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

“Who are you to judge
someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will
stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4).

“That is why I am
suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed,
and am convinced that he is able
to guard what I have entrusted to
him for that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

“If we are thrown into
the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from
it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:17).

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy” (Jude 24).

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

Recently,* a friend asked a question about Christians of
today, which got a ready answer from me. There is a prayer in Psalm 19 that
does not seem to me to be applied by many of us.

“Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep
your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be
blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13).

We do not confess known sins (1 John 1:7-9) nor request
cleansing from secret sins. We do not request help for obedience in small
things nor for deliverance from addiction to them. If we did, then there would
be no danger of us committing any great sin.

Great sins are caused by a multitude of unconfessed, willful
sins that are now ruling over us. A great transgression is the next event. In
many evangelical churches, there is a great transgression happening somewhere right
now. We do not understand how it could have happened. The answer is easy. The
guilty person did not pray verses 12 and 13 of this Psalm. He may have been surprised
himself by this great sin. While the rest of us are wondering how it happened,
we are busy with our own willful sins, letting them get dominion over
us, setting us up for a great transgression.

There is an additional reason for this great transgression.
We brothers in Christ who saw it coming did not intercept him before the great
transgression happened or confront him after it happened. Here are our “whys.”

1. We do not want to be judged by those who say, “Do not
judge.”

2. We are able, but unwilling to confront him.

3. We are willing, but not spiritually qualified to confront
him. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual
should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be
tempted” (Galatians 6:1). “How can you say to your brother ‘Let me take the
speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” (Matthew
7:4).

4. We are not willing to get qualified. “You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

5. We are not willing to introduce kind, loving biblical
discipline into the church. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him
his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your
brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that
‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to
listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (Matthew
18:15-17). “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone
who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a
slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What
business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge
those inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:11-12).

6. We do not want the brother to take offense. He may hold
us to be in the wrong for correcting him.

Friends do not allow friends to sin. Friends do not allow
friends to be unrepentant.

Written December 1999.

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

I received the following comment from a friend on 2 Peter chapter 1: “Dear Jim, I’ve read and reread the passage in 2 Peter, but I
find myself being overwhelmed because the goal is so high—I’ll never reach it. – Your Friend.”

Dear Friend,

You commented about the impossibility of the passage in 2
Peter:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your
faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and
to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to
godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess
these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being
ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2
Pet. 1:5-8).

Really it is not impossible. It just says add to your
faith these things, and if you have them, add in increasing majority. In other
words, it doesn’t say that if you have them in some absolute form—just if they
are always increasing, you are always adding. So as long as you are
growing you will never be ineffective or unfruitful. It is not speaking of
reaching some absolute portion of each of these characteristics. No, you just
add and keep increasing.

I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about obedience
and the relationship in the Scriptures between obedience and love, obedience
and faith, and the non-relationship between obedience and works.
Obedience is much more closely related to love and faith than it is to any sort
of works righteousness. So as you think in terms of love for God, express it in
obedience, and as you think in terms of faith toward God, express it in terms
of obedience.

In His Love,

Jim Wilson

This post coordinates with today’s reading in the To
the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,
please join us at totheword.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

“But exhort one
another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be
hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

Sitting
over a cup of coffee at one time or another, almost every woman has been called
upon to listen to someone else tell their troubles. As Christians, what does
God expect of us in these times? Certainly, we ought to be good listeners and
be able to keep a secret where warranted. Both of these are good qualities—but
are we not required to do more?

Even
in a Bible study, it is not uncommon to find people sharing their difficulties
and feeling refreshed for having done so. However, talking about our problems brings
only temporary relief. In order for us to take an effective step forward, the
Word of God must be brought to bear on the particular problem or temptation and
prayer made for God’s help in meeting the problem in His way. But who is to
exhort in this fashion?

Exhortation
seems to be a rare art among Christians. By definition, to exhort is to encourage
by words of advice or to warn earnestly. We have plenty of people
who are willing to offer advice or criticism, but few who exhort.

Here
we become reluctant or even antagonistic to the thought. “After all, who am I
to tell anyone what to do?” There are probably several reasons for this, but a
common one is that with some of our own problems still unsolved we do not feel
sufficiently able to offer advice to others.

My
husband once gave me some invaluable help along this line. I was saying I felt
like a hypocrite counseling others, for I feared I was creating the impression
of greater attainment on my part than was true.

He
reminded me that I was not to counsel so much from my own experience as from the
Word of God. This came as a relief to me. It not only means that the
counselor and her friend look up together to a standard set by the Lord in His
Word, but also the element of superiority found in the “Look at me” sort of
advice is eliminated. The counselor need not say anything about her own
experience unless she can add, to the glory of God, that such and such an
approach worked in her case. But we are obliged to exhort from the Scriptures
the path of obedience the believer is to take. It is amazing how many of the
complex situations of present-day living are outlined, with their solutions, in
the Bible.

In
the context of Hebrews 3:13, we find that the chief need for faithful
exhortation is that we might help one another avoid “an evil, unbelieving
heart.” We are urged not to be like the Israelites in the wilderness, who in
their various difficulties failed to believe in the Lord’s promise of
deliverance. Their disbelief was fatal. Let us help each other avoid the
sorrows of disbelief.

It
takes faith to attack the problems of our lives with the promises and
principles of the Scripture. Let us also exercise faith when we exhort others,
believing that, as the conditions set by our Lord in His Word are met, problems
presently insurmountable will be solved to the relief of the Christian and the
glory of our Savior. 

This post is an excerpt from Dealing with a Critical Spirit by Bessie Wilson, available at cccmbooks.org/bookstore.

RIGHT JUDGMENT

“Do not judge, or you
too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,
and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at
the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of
your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:1–5).

You
are not a help to anyone, including yourself, if you are filled with a critical
spirit. However, Jesus did not tell us to forget criticism. He said to get rid
of your own plank, and then you will be able to see clearly to help someone
else.

There
are two dangers in the misuse of Jesus’ state­ment in Matthew 7. First, we can
fail to read to the end of verse five and not realize that we need to see
clearly be­fore we try to remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Sometimes
the speck in the other person’s eye doesn’t seem like anything at all once your
own plank is gone.

Second,
we can practice a nonjudgmental atti­tude to the extent that we throw out
discernment. This becomes the sin of tolerance. Tolerance leads people
to avoid correcting their own behavior and that of others. Every time I bring
up the subject of judgment, some dear Christian says, “Now, now, Bessie, the
Scripture says, ‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’” This verse is often
quoted to quell criticism, and the person us­ing the quote goes away satisfied.
Yet Jesus was not saying don’t judge at all. He tells us to remove the
planks from our own eyes so that we can see clearly to help others. He
said to judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24).[1]

Galatians
6:1 gives us a guideline on how to handle giving criticism. “Brothers, if
someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him
gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). When you
see something wrong—in a person, in a situation, in a church—can you get past
this qualification: “you who are spiritual”? You are not spiritually competent
to judge until you are positive that plank is out of your own eye.

The
first step when we see something wrong is to go to the Lord in prayer and say,
“Father, I’m concerned about this, but before I go off carelessly or willfully,
I ask You to search me.” Psalm 139:23–24 (NKJV) says, “Search me, O God, and
know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Many times, the Lord has said
to me, “Bessie, you’re not qualified. You can pray about this situation, but
you are not eligible to fix it.”

You
can only go and help someone if you are spiri­tual. “Spiritual” does not mean
pious. To be spiritual is to be in tune with God, to have God’s Spirit
controlling your spirit so that you don’t go and do damage to other people. The
way to be spiritual is to have your own sins confessed up to date and be right
with God yourself. If you are not spiritual, do not use that as an excuse to
avoid helping others. We are not to leave the log in our eye—Jesus tells us to
remove it. Get spiritual by putting yourself right with God.

“You
who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness . . .”
(Gal. 6:1 NKJV). God tells us to restore people gently. When you are critical, the
first thing to do is not to go set people right. Isn’t that our
motivation so often? “Someone’s got to tell these people! And I’m the one to do
it.” No. Even if you succeed in convincing them that they are wrong, setting
them right is not the same as restoring them. Restoring means
getting that person back to their spiritual walk with God. Jumping on other
people’s sins is like jumping on sparks to put them out. You just fan them into
a flame instead. Then you wonder why other people don’t respond to you. Restore
them gently. The KJV says, “in a spirit of meekness.” You must not be
overbearing. You must not be cruel. You need to be tough sometimes, but you can
be tough and gentle. Tough love means not giving room to sin.

“Restore
such a one in a spirit of gentleness, consid­ering yourself lest you also be
tempted” (Gal. 6:1 NKJV). Watch your own heart. Often the things that bug
us the most in other people are the things that we are capable of doing and
need to be careful about ourselves. Paul says, “Therefore you are inexcusable,
O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn
yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Rom. 2:1 NKJV). In other
words, it takes one to know one. We can see this sin in someone else
because we’ve been there. In one way, I feel spiritually capable of talking
about a critical spirit precisely because I have been there. But if I still had
a critical spirit, I wouldn’t dare! Because I have allowed God to deal with it,
I am able and want to help anyone else who has it.

Leviticus
19:15 gives another guideline for judging correctly: “Do not pervert justice;
do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your
neighbor fairly.” Just because a person is poor does not mean that he has
nobility of thought or action; a look at welfare cases might bring you to a
more realistic stance on this. The rich and famous also cannot bear the
scrutiny of the Word of God. In his letter, James warns us about treatment of the
poor and rich in the church: “Don’t show favoritism” (James 2:1). Avoid
generalizations when making judgments. Some poor people are haugh­ty and proud,
and some rich people are humble and gracious. Don’t rush into putting people
into judgment categories. This means getting all the facts. So
often we get one fact, and we run with it and make a touchdown at the wrong end
of the field.

There
are many lists in the Word by which we are to judge ourselves and others:

·      
In 1 Peter 4:17, Peter says that “it is time for
judgment to begin with the family of God.”

·      
In 1 Corinthians 11:29, Paul points out that we
can eat and drink judgment on ourselves if we do not recognize the body of the
Lord as we receive com­munion. He went on to say that “if we judged our­selves,
we would not come under judgment” (v. 31).

·      
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul encourages us to judge
disputes in the church—appointing “even men of little account” (v. 4) to do so.
This was to discourage going to law be­fore unbelievers. “Do you not know that
the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the
sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanders nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (vv. 9–10).

We
can conclude from Scripture that we are not to be judgmental about other people,
but we are to dis­cern our own spiritual needs and theirs in the light
of Scripture and seek to help others after we have been cleansed ourselves.

Wouldn’t
it be better just to mind your own busi­ness and not get into any situation
where you had to correct another? No. You would not be a good Christian if you
did that. No one lives to himself (Rom. 14:7). Love that cares reaches out and
even interferes in other people’s business. You just have to be careful that
you are in the right condition for it.

I
had a neighbor in Annapolis who told me, “I just don’t let people come to see
me. I don’t have friends, but then again, I don’t have any enemies.” It was
true; she had nothing. She did not understand how we could stand the constant
stream of people coming to our house for counseling and fellowship. Not having
friends or ene­mies is not Christian. We are here to help each other.

Again,
Oswald Chambers said that discernment is given to us, not to criticize, but to
intercede. If you see someone at fault, the first thing to do is pray for them.
Don’t allow yourself to say one word until you have talked to God about the
situation. It is wonderful to intercede for people. I have noticed that after I
have prayed for some­one, when I meet them I am looking for encouraging signs
of answered prayer. I am not looking for more faults. The more good I see
coming out of answered prayer, the more encouraged I am. Then I pray for an
opportunity to talk with that person, and God gives it.

So
much harm is done because we do not pray. The Scripture tells us to pray one
for another (James 5:16). Who knows what that person is suffering? At Christmas
one year, Jim was very concerned for a family in town, and he was in his study
praying for them. He heard me call, “Jim, so-and-so is walking up to the door.”
It was the very person he was praying for. They had a long and helpful visit.
He had great joy in talking to them because he had already talked to God about
it.

Every
time you see a need in someone else, let it guide you to prayer. Then if the
Lord should tap you on the shoulder and say, “I think you are ready now to go,”
say, “Thank you, Lord. I will go, and I will go in the spirit of meekness,
knowing that I, too, could be tempted.”

Since
that time the Lord dealt with me, I believe He has made me gentler with people
than I ever was before. May I remind you again of Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if someone
is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch
yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

“Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).

“In the same way you
judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you” (Matt. 7:2).

The
ability to be critical is a valuable skill, but it can be either good or bad. Like
all tools, what matters is how you use it.

The
first meaning of critic in the dictionary is “a person who forms or
expresses judgments of people or things according to certain standards or
values.”[1] There
is nothing wrong with the abili­ty to critique in this way. We do it all the
time, and we need to. There are critics in art, music, education, and
government. Civilization requires critical people to keep us in line; otherwise,
we would slump to an awful place.

Another
meaning of critic is “someone who cen­sures or finds fault.” When that is done
well, it is alright. You can legitimately find fault with something that is
bad. The process of criticism itself is not a problem. A critical mind is
necessary. But having a critical spirit is another thing entirely.

WRONG JUDGMENT

What
is the difference between a critical mind and a critical spirit?
When you have a critical spirit, the plea­sure of criticism takes over, and you
set yourself up as judge or sheriff. A critical spirit is fault­finding or
censorious of other people. This faultfinding is not for the other person’s
good but is judgmental, condemning, and self-righteous.

Linked
with criticism is the term discernment, which is the ability to see and
compare. Years ago, when I first started Christian work, I asked God to give me
the spirit of discernment. This is important for a Bible teacher. You need to
be able to spot error when it creeps in. God gave me the gift of discernment,
but years later He convicted me deeply of the abuse of that gift. 

Why do you look at
the speck of sawdust in your broth­er’s eye and pay no attention to the plank
in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of
your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:3–5)

There’s
a splinter in the other person’s eye and a tele­phone pole in yours. The
temptation is to deal with the other person’s problem first and ignore our own.

We
all have a blind spot somewhere. We don’t know everything. However, the ability
to see error starkly in someone else can sometimes make us think we do
know everything. We have a very difficult time turn­ing the spotlight back on
ourselves and asking, “What about you?” Even the best driver cannot see every­thing.
It’s impossible. When we are driving, we need to be aware of the blind spots.
Spiritually speaking, Christian friendships help us to determine where our own
personal blind spots are.

O would some power
the Giver give us

To see ourselves as
others see us.

—Robert Burns

I
did not think I had a blind spot. I was a missionary. I had been told so often
that I was very spiritual that I believed it. It took marriage to open my eyes
and bring out the blind spots. The major one was self-pity. I was very proud of
my abil­ity to never be angry, to accept everything. If there was trouble of
any kind, I would suffer rather than say any­thing. I honestly thought it was a
great virtue. I had been told how levelheaded I was and how easy I was
to get along with, and I believed it. Then my husband Jim pointed out that if I
was offended and became quiet, I was as hard to get along with as if I had
blown my top. I couldn’t buy that at first. I had grown up with a sister who
blew her top, and I thought it was the most dreadful thing to live with. But
Jim said, “Which is worse, to make the house cold for three days, or to have
fifteen minutes of fireworks?”

It
wasn’t until Jim pointed this out to me that I re­membered something my dear
father said to me when I still lived at home. I had four brothers and a sister,
and I was the youngest. The dishwashing duty had been lodged with me. All my
siblings would say they had tak­en their turn over the years, and now it was
mine. There I was stuck with washing the dishes for all those people.

One
evening, I had my hands in the dish water, feel­ing very much a martyr, and my
father came up behind me and said, “Bess, you know we wouldn’t help you for the
world. You’re having such a good time.”

Self-pity
can be a luxury to be indulged in. You can feel like you’re the world’s best
martyr. “Am I not stuck with all this, and am I not being so patient
about it?”

Although
marriage quickly opened my eyes to several blind spots, I did not have a
critical spirit in my early mar­riage. It took having four children to develop
that. As a mother, you are forced into a position of leadership in the home.
The meals, the laundry, the general running of the house are all your
jurisdiction. I don’t know where it started, but somewhere in that first thirty
years of marriage, I became the sheriff of the house. I was critical about ev­eryone
else’s performance and about my own. I didn’t see any good anywhere. I looked
at our minister in town with a critical eye. When Jim talked to me about what
was being done with the ministry he ran, I didn’t tell him what I thought was good
about it. All I could see were the problems. I said, “Well, that is wrong, and
I don’t like this, and I don’t like that.” My good ability to judge got out of
hand. I set myself up as the sole determiner of right and wrong. I criticized
everything and everyone. As I sat in this position, I had a great, big plank in
my own eye.

The
critical spirit is based in pride. How so? When we make a critical evaluation
of something, we appoint ourselves as the final authority. We are setting
ourselves above it. “I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t say that. How can this
person act like that and be a Christian? Why did they do this? Why did they say
that?” Before you know it, you have forgotten that you do those things,
too. Why do you look at the speck in your neighbor’s eye when there is a plank
in your own?

A
critical spirit commonly causes depression. When you have a negative view of
everyone, and all you can see are the wrongs, it is natural to become very
depressed. I found myself unable to thank God for the beauty around me. I was
unable to thank Him for the spiritual growth I saw in different individu­als.
Instead of rejoicing in the progress my husband and I were experiencing with
peo­ple in our Christian work and counseling, I saw only how much more they
needed. I became increasingly miserable. Then one spring, we talked of taking a
sabbatical and going to Canada for a few months. I realized that I was looking
forward to the sabbatical to get myself straightened out; and the Lord said to
me, “I want to straighten you out right now.”

That
day, I was deeply convicted of the sin of having a critical spirit. I couldn’t
share it with anyone. I knew if I tried, I would cry my heart out and not be
able to finish telling them about it, so I put it down on paper. In a letter to
my husband and children, I wrote: “There have been occasions in my life when
God has blessed me in spite of what I know is ‘an iceberg of judgments’
resulting in bitterness of heart. Most of my Christian life I have been in
Christian lead­ership, and I see this sin (a critical spirit) now as a peril in
leadership. Having once prayed for discernment, I see now it needs a balance.
Oswald Chambers said that discernment is given not to criticize, but to
intercede. I have become a sheriff in the Christian community, in my home
and marriage.”

I
wrote much more than this and received nothing but love and understanding from
my family. In repen­tance, I cried before the Lord in agony to have this sin
removed from me and to be forgiven. Never before or since have I been so
repentant.

At
the time, I was leading a noon Bible study on the University of Idaho campus.
We were working through the book of Micah and came to this verse:

I will bear the
indignation of the Lord,

Because I have
sinned against Him,

Until He pleads my
case

And executes justice
for me.

He will bring me
forth to the light;

I will see His
righteousness.

(Micah 7:9 NKJV)

I
was still overwhelmed with my sin and had been thinking, “This is the way I
always have been, and this is the way I always will be.” God used this verse to
say to me, “No—I want to take it from you.”

I
wanted to be delivered from my critical spirit, and, thank God, He did deliver
me. Does that mean I have not had a critical spirit since? Yes, I have at times,
but I can identify it now faster and be rid of it again by confessing it to Him
as sin.

by Larry Lucas (continued from 9/2)

When you begin to look for the truth about Jesus, there’s an
unsettling sound that starts to develop in the background. It’s as though we
have spent our lives walking along a railroad track, day after day, mile after
mile; it’s all we’ve ever known. And now the track has led us beyond the noise
of the city. Our hearing has become more sensitive. We could always hear the
wind; now we hear the breeze. We sense light movements. And now, in the
farthest reaches of our hearing, we become aware of a train. It’s Jesus talking
about what comes next, after this life ceases:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come,
you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared
for you since the creation of the world.’…Then he will say to those on his
left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels.’…Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but
the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:31-46).

Death sobers us up once we move past the jokes and
posturing. Because all the opinions we’ve ever heard were merely that—opinions.
Who do we know that can say for certain what follows death? And so each of us
is left with a choice: will we believe Jesus, or not? But perhaps most
unsettling is our aloneness at that moment of death. No one will accompany us.

On occasion, Jesus spoke explicitly about what follows
death, but whether explicit or not, his teaching was tied to those
eventualities. It always held them in sight. Jesus came because of what we will
all face: eternal life or an unimaginably hard alternative.

The description offered by John, which he was shown by
revelation, is unmistakable:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on
it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were
judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave
up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in
them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into
the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).

You Decide

Most of us are busy: busy with what we have to do, busy with
what we want to do, busy with responsibilities, busy with what others expect of
us. Busyness is a distraction. It crowds out what is important with what is
urgent. But busyness can be shelved; for example, when a man or woman is
diagnosed with cancer, the fight to stay alive sets aside other claims on their
time. Time is made for treatment. If Jesus is telling the truth, coming to
terms with him is more important than cancer. You’re not too busy. You don’t
know when you’ll run out of time.

You decide.

Jesus gave a more likely reason why men and women avoid him.
They don’t want to be exposed, and light exposes:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son  that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in
him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the
world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for
fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God” (John 3:16-21).

Busyness has nothing to do with this.

There’s an incident described in the Gospel of Luke where
Jesus is seen eating at the house of a man named Levi with a group of people
that the religious leaders looked down on, and they commented on it to his
followers. Responding, Jesus placed a very simple truth on the table:

“Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and
a large crowd  of tax collectors and
others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who
belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink
with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy
who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance’” (Luke 5:29-32).

Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous. If you’re
righteous, that is, if you are not a sinner, Jesus didn’t come to call you. You
have to be a sinner to answer his call. I think it’s the righteous people that
so hate the light. It exposes them. So they won’t listen to him. They will
judge him without letting him testify.

You decide.