Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2003

Grace Church of Burlington March 9, 2003 "Christianity not only saves you from sin, but from petty criticism." On one occasion when the famous New England clergyman, Henry Ward Beecher, was preaching in Brooklyn, he carried a handful of flowers into the pulpit one Lord’s Day and placed them in a vase that they might adorn the stand from which he spoke. New York City newspapers, the next day, carried lengthy articles condemning Beecher for desecrating the pulpit with flowers.             What is it about most of us that we can so easily find fault and point out flaws so much easier than we can praise or see positive traits. Yet a petty, critical spirit is not only annoying and damaging, it also flies in the face of Paul’s command, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph. 4:29). Obviously, there is a place for constructive criticism yet most of us struggle with being distributors of "destructive" criticism. This is precisely what Paul was warning us against. We’ve succumbed to a critical spirit when our faultfinding tears other people or organizations down. Truly constructive criticism always seeks to build up. It is also always expressed face-to-face, never behind someone’s back.             But a person with a critical spirit usually dwells on the negative and looks for flaws rather than good. This a carnal attitude that we too easily excuse, after all "everyone else does it." Such reasoning sadly rationalizes away a very damaging sin. Usually a critical spirit wreaks its worst havoc on those closest to us, i.e., spouses, children and intimate friends. If we would honestly evaluate our hearts, many of us would see how critical they are and how often our words are derogatory of others. Most of us can find something wrong with just about everything and every other person.             Frequently, this critical spirit is produced by our own lack of joy and gratitude. When we are truly grateful for God’s blessings and those that He has brought into our lives, we look for the best. An ungrateful spirit though only sees what is wrong. A critical spirit is often produced by pride. Because we believe that we are masters of certain areas or experts, we feel our viewpoint sets the standard. We place ourselves, then, in the position of judge and jury for others. The fact is that if something is not morally wrong or does not violate some academic standard, it’s a subjective opinion. One person’s opinion has no more merit or credibility than someone else’s. Setting myself up, though, as the measure is sinful egotism.             It’s vital that you and I seek to eradicate our critical spirits. This sinful attitude is destructive and harmful to our walk, witness, and world.  It’s harmful to our spiritual walk because there is nothing that causes as many problems in our relationship with God as an unforgiving, unloving, and critical attitude toward another person. A critical spirit is harmful to our witness because the world is watching us and listening to us. They will not believe we serve a God of mercy and kindness unless we exhibit those traits ourselves. It is harmful to our world, and by that I mean our own personal world (our families, churches, workplaces), because it divides instead of unites. Very few things do as much damage and cause as much dissension within marriages, churches and workplaces as a critical tongue and attitude. By far the greatest problem with a critical spirit is that it blinds us to our own sins and failures. Too often we overlook our own failures and sins while criticizing the faults in others! The reality is that our judgment may reflect our own flaws, which usually are more serious than those we see in someone else.             One woman named Ruth Knowlton told how she came to see this truth. The building across the alley was only a few feet away, and she could easily look into her neighbor’s apartment. Ruth had never met the woman who lived there, but she could see her as she sewed and read each afternoon. After several months, she noticed that the figure by the window had become indistinct. She just couldn’t understand why the woman didn’t wash her windows. One sunny day Ruth decided to do some housecleaning, including washing her own windows. Later that day, she sat down to rest by the window. To her amazement, she could clearly and distinctly see her neighbor sitting by her window. Ruth said to herself, "Well, finally she washed her windows!" But you know what had really happened; Ruth’s own windows had been the ones that needed washing.             We are not to have critical spirits. We are to be merciful toward others, just as God has been merciful toward us. There will be times when we will have to make judgments, but if we evaluate our standard, our life and motive, it will help keep us from succumbing to a carnal, critical spirit.