Title: Sound Criticism
Contents
Sound criticism (Matthew 7:1-5)
In today's text, the Lord deals with the problem of criticism. The Lord told us not to criticize above all else. You are avoiding criticism. At first glance, it seems that the Lord forbids criticism of all kinds.
However, the Bible does not forbid criticism of all kinds. Proper critique is needed.
For example, when David sinned and lived without any remorse, the prophet Nathan visits David and mercilessly points out and criticizes David's sin. But because of the criticism, David realizes his mistake, repents, and becomes a righteous man again. Sound criticism is necessary. What the Lord forbids is not correct criticism, but wrong criticism. What is wrong criticism? Criticism, not criticism, is wrong criticism. People often say they criticize, but in fact they criticize.
The purpose of criticism is to correct and save the person. But accusation breaks down and frustrates the person. This criticism is not correct. The second is criticism for the sake of criticism. A sound critique is a critique that offers constructive alternatives. It is a criticism of pointing out the right path. However, wrong criticism does not offer constructive alternatives, but only criticizes for the sake of criticism. The Lord forbade such criticism. Why did you forbid such criticism? For three reasons.
1. Criticism is a barrier to self-growth.
From a spiritual point of view, most of the critics are people without spiritual growth. Everyone! What it means to criticize others is to criticize because you think you are in a superior position than others.
I criticize others easily because I think <I have no problem, but you are the problem>. They also criticize other people who think <I don't> because they think <I know more than others>. When we criticize others, we can see that most of them are based on this premise. So critics have a conscious mind to think of others as inferior to themselves. Therefore, such people inevitably lack spiritual growth. Because there is no self-reflection. In other words, because there is no self-repentance.
Faith growth is achieved through self-reflection and repentance. Growth occurs as much as you realize your own shortcomings. However, since people who like criticism do not know how to look after themselves, they appear to be superior to others on the outside, but in reality they are spiritually dark and young.
These people also appear in the Bible. Let's look at verse 5 today. Here's a hint to know what kind of people like to criticize. ‘People who eat out’. People who like to eat out are different from the outside. The real self and the outward self are different. These are people who do not have the power of godliness, but have only the appearance of godliness. He is a person who says he cannot live like that, but tells others to live like that.
There are such people in the Bible. Pharisees and scribes. These people are very pious people and teach the Bible. However, these are the people whom Jesus rebuked the most for being hypocrites. Why were they rebuked by Jesus? Because these people have taught others but not themselves. This is because they only looked at the problems of others and did not see their own problems at all. After living like that for a day, two days, ten years, or twenty years, he is a child who has no spiritual growth at all, and has become spiritually blind. That is why Jesus severely rebuked you for being blind and foolish people with darkness in the spirit.
Therefore, we must learn to examine ourselves first before criticizing others. If you see shortcomings or shortcomings in others, first examine yourself before pointing out that person. Please check to see if there is no such shortcoming in me, and if there is no wrong side in me. Such a person is a person who grows spiritually. The Lord wants us to be people of growth. You want to be a person who continues to develop.
2. Because criticism comes back to me.
One of the characteristics of criticism is that it comes back to me. There is a device called a boomerang. It is a device that returns to me when thrown. Criticism is like that. When I criticize others, the criticism that leaves me becomes a boomerang and comes back to me.
But when it comes back, it comes back to me with a much greater destructive force than when I threw it. So criticism is scary. Let's look at verse 1. If you don't want to be criticized, don't criticize. And in verse 2 it says: “For with the judgment with which you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you.”
The criticism that I criticized becomes the standard and basis for criticizing me, and it comes back to me. After all, who created the basis for criticizing me? It wasn't made by someone else, it was made by myself. For an easy example, I saw other people's mistakes and criticized them mercilessly. But what happens if a similar fault is found in me? Those who have been criticized or seen me criticize will criticize me mercilessly.
But the question we need to think more carefully is what if it is God, not man, who will treat me as harshly as I did with others? What would happen if God judges us without giving any kind of recognition to us in the same way that we criticized others mercilessly? What will we do when God rebukes us for seeing the faults of others so well, but not seeing your own faults that way?
James 2:13 “There will be judgments without mercy to those who show no mercy, but mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Those who do not show mercy to others will not find mercy in the sight of God. Please remember. It is easy for us to criticize, but the truth is that I am sometimes criticized just as I criticized. However, if I embraced and forgave other people rather than criticizing them when they made a mistake, they will also try to cover my mistake when I did it. In the end, you get what you give. It's up to you to decide how you want to be treated. If you want to be treated well, treat yourself well. You will reap what you sow.
3. Because the purpose of criticism is to build.
We can't help but criticize, but we must always be careful. The critique should not be a critique for the sake of critique or be a critique. The purpose of criticism should not be to destroy or ignore others, but to straighten and save that person. Always remember the purpose of criticism.
1) You should be more careful with people you are especially close to.
Anything close up looks better. The good points are visible, but the weaknesses are actually more visible. Weirdly, we have a bad habit of not seeing the good very well and seeing the weak point terribly. So if you do it wrong, you run the risk of better pointing out and criticizing the weaknesses of those close to you. Let's look at verse 3. “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye and not the log that is in your own eye?”
Did you say you saw the speck in whose eye? The tea in the brother's eyes. Siblings are close friends. It's a friend. It's a couple. They are also believers who live together in faith. This person is a brother. He said he saw the dust in his brother's eye.
If you want to see the speckle in someone else's eye, would you have looked at it roughly? Would you like to see it in detail? I looked closely. But the truth is, even if you don't try to look closely, if you live together all the time, even the smallest flaws will naturally be revealed.
So the closer you are, the more tolerant you should be to each other. It is not because the person has many faults, but because he is close, he can see his faults. There will be a variety of people you are meeting right now. There will be people who look good. But live together for one year. People who looked so good will look like completely different people.
Therefore, the closer you are, the more effort you need to understand and consider each other rather than criticize. This is especially true of marital relationships. Everyone! The couple is really close to each other. Therefore, we need more understanding and consideration for each other. When you do something wrong, it's easy to blame because you know it too well. <Why is it like that? Why are people like this!> You can easily say something like this. But what we need to be clear about is that accusations are destructive acts. If you really love someone, you shouldn't criticize them. You need to embrace and understand the person's weaknesses. Why? Because the result we want is to build up the person, not destroy it. The purpose of criticism is to build, not destroy. Please remember this.
2) Another thing we need to be careful about is the closer we get to each other. own weakness.
Let's look at verse 3. In this verse, our limitations are very well pointed out. What is it? The limitation is that we look at other people's weaknesses and fail to see our weaknesses that are bigger than others. We have a habit of being strict with others and very generous with ourselves. If I do it, it's romantic, but if it's someone else's, it's called an affair. If I do it, it's a necessity, but if others do, it's a luxury.
In this way, they see the speck in another's eye, but do not understand the log in their own eye. Everyone! What is a beam? Simply put, it is a pillar. How ridiculous it would be to have a pillar in your own eye and point out a speck in another's eye. When you have a bigger problem with yourself, without even thinking about fixing it at all, pointing out only the slightest mistakes of your family and children and scolding them to fix it, is your point of view really authoritative? It will just be nagging.
If we want to get a speck out of someone else's eye, we need to do something first. I need to get the beam out of my eye. How can someone who can't see properly because I have a beam in my eye to get the speck out of someone else's eye? Trying to pull it out clumsily, on the contrary, hurts the eyes of others.
In order to correct the faults of others, you must first correct your own major faults. A person who acknowledges and can correct the errors within himself has the right to correct the mistakes of others. why? Because I have the experience of turning from a wrong life to a right life, I become a person who can help others properly.
Remember that the purpose of criticism is not to downplay, ignore, or destroy, but to build, encourage, and help the person. And in order to do that, I can first remove the contradictions within myself and help others properly when I first have a changed experience.
< Conclusion >
It's not without criticism, but you have to be careful. The closer you are, the more careful you need to be. In marital relationships, sexual relationships, and neighborhood relationships, we must be able to make the right criticism. Correct criticism is not for the purpose of bragging and boasting about your own righteousness, but for humbly examining yourself and helping others.
The Bible tells us to cover the faults of others. You have been told to be strict with yourself but tolerant of others. Therefore, examine yourself daily and repent. Then change will take place within me and maturity will occur. At that time, you can become a person who can properly criticize others and a person who helps them properly.