Hypocrites, critics, and other odd religious folks (Pt.2)

 (Part 2)

“People without good sense find fault with their neighbors, but those with understanding keep quiet. Gossips can’t keep secrets,but a trustworthy person can.-Proverbs 11:12-13

Another group of individuals that we do not like to encounter, especially at church, are critics. A person with a critical spirit is one with an obsessive attitude towards faultfinding. Critics desire to pick apart things in an effort to discover the wrong in something or someone.

These critical spirits take on many forms:

•   There is the gossip. A gossip is a person who reveals secrets. Proverbs 20:19 declares that:

           

“ A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers.”

Gossip is the betrayal of a person’s confidence (Proverbs 11:13) and the reason why it is so heavily discouraged throughout the Scripture.

•   There are the slanderers. These individuals make false statements to damage a person’s reputation. This is a deliberate act of malice towards another individual with the intention of causing harm. The Bible has strong words for those who participate in this:

“Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool.”-Proverbs 10:18

•   Then we have the judgmental people. These individuals are excessively critical of other people’s motives. They like to point out mistakes while ignoring their own:

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”-Matthew 7:3-5

•   We also have the grumblers and complainers! These are people who are characterized by habitual negativity, discontent and ingratitude. James 5:9 tells us:

“Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!” and we are instructed in Philippians 2:14: “Do everything without complaining and arguing.”

Whether it be fault-finding, gossip, slander, passing judgment or grumbling and complaining about others; the ultimate objective is to tear down and destroy. When we allow these attitudes prevail in our churches, we can be certain that those who attend will lose interest in the God we serve. That is why Paul penned these words in Ephesians 4: 29:

“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.”

The church needs be be in the business of building up, not tearing down!

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church