Do You Have The Right To Be Critical?

Good morning. So glad each of you are with us this morning. As you can see my Beautiful bride made it back from Iowa safe and sound Praise the Lord for that.

I also hope that all of you that want to have created an account with Rightnow media and have begun to explore the content and have grown closer to Jesus through it this past week.

Tonight is worship night we will worship at 6 pm and then a fellowship dinner to follow. Make plans to attend and bring something that goes with hamburgers and hot dogs.

Let’s Pray

START OBS

The lie or bait we are talking about today is this

Is it okay to criticize someone?

What if you are right and they are wrong?

Sounds okay doesn't it?

Some even put a fancy name to it and call it constructive criticism

Sounds healthy

That is a lie

Criticism leads to a critical spirit that destroys relationships and in fact leads you to be critical of God himself.

This morning I want to look at this question of

Do You Have The Right To Be Critical?

We will look to answer that question in light of God’s Word

Recently we have spent a lot of time together on Sunday mornings looking at God’s love.

Being critical is never in line with God’s love

We are called to reproof and rebuke each other but never in a critical manner with a critical spirit

God is Love

If we claim to love God but do not love others He is not in us

I also want you to understand that being critical is always a choice.

Just like any sin…sin is always a choice..you need to take the thought captive and make it obey Jesus or you don’t and choose to act on it and sin

The first thing I want to bring to you this morning is this:

You need to realize who you are criticizing

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Exodus 16:7-8

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“and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.””

We looked at, just recently, the fact that you and I as humans are no good.

In fact Jesus Himself said Why do you call me good there is none good except God

Who is the person you are criticizing?

Are they really in control?

Are they really calling the shots?

Are they God?

You are not criticizing them, even though you direct it all at them and intend it for them

You are criticizing God

Pastor Josh I wouldn’t criticize God

Really?

That person who cut you off in traffic

That person who did not provide customer service up to your expectations and standards

That situation

That diagnosis

You sure are complaining and criticizing about those things

You might think

You are right but how is that against God?

James 1:17

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“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

All good gifts are from God

Now Pastor Josh how are getting cut off in traffic or poor customer service or a frustrating situation or bad diagnosis good?

James 1:2

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“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

Sounds like those trials of various kinds are causing you to be critical instead of joyful!

God continues

James 1:3-4

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“for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Perspective

Are you viewing everything through the cross?

Are you standing upon God’s Word as we discussed last week?

Do you have a worldly perspective that says when things happen to you that you don’t like or hurt you or make you uncomfortable or just don’t meet your expectations you have every right to be critical

God says when things happen you don’t like or hurt you or make you uncomfortable or just don’t meet your expectations you are to count it joy because it is God perfecting you

You have a choice

Criticize and be on satan’s team where you criticize God

or

Be joyful....full of gratitude because God loves you and is working to perfect you…make you mature in Christ

Make no mistake about it

How you react

what you say or do

It all points to your heart relationship with Jesus or the lack there of

The next bait or lie I want to look at is

As a Christian you can’t judge people

As with many things when satan is involved the truth is twisted

Good judge vs bad judge

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Matthew 7:1-6

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““Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 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. “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

When you present the Gospel and attempt to address sin from a scriptural perspective

When you stand on the Word of God and have a conversation with someone

Many will quote the 1st part of this verse to you

Judge not

They will say things like

Who are you to judge me

Where do you get off being all judgey?

They are kinda right…they are not applying it correctly but do have a point

Judge is a Greek verb krino (Kree-no) it means to decided or condemn or punish or sentence

Who are you to decide or condemn or punish or sentence them?!?!?!?!?!

Are you God?

Am I God?

Only God can kree-no....judge people…decide, condemn, punish or sentence them to hell

When you do anything your way instead of God’s way it will fail and you will fail

Look at the example given by Jesus

Your brother has a speck you have a log

Who are you to judge?

The KJV says mote

The ESV says speck

They are both translated from a Greek noun karphos (Kar-fos) which means dry twig or straw

KJV says beam

ESV says log

Both are translated from Greek noun dokos (dok-os) meaning stick of timber

Your brother has this

SHOW THE TWIG PIC

You have this

SHOW THE BEAM PICK

When you are critical you are looking past your own sin to find sin in others

Jesus has strong words for this

He says

take care of the sin your your life by

Bringing it to Him

Leave it at the foot of the cross

Confess and reconcile long before you criticize others

In fact He calls them Hypocrites which comes from the Greek word hypokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace) and it means an actor under an assumed character

When you claim to be Christian but live worldly you are a hypocrite

An actor under an assumed character

No wonder the lost don't want Jesus

His body are hypocrites more than they aren’t

Now that was the bad judge

You are, however, to judge as a Christian

Matthew 7:16

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“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

Jesus didn’t contradict himself

I had the honor and blessing of going golfing Thursday with a former high school teammate

I was terrible but the fellowship was amazing

It has been a couple years since I had golfed, and it showed, but what if on the first tee box I would have gotten into the car and drove my ball down the middle of the fairway

we would have gotten kicked out of the course, rightfully so

But they said to drive the ball off of the tee with a club.

Judge in the first sense is a legal term but also has other applications or meanings

Drive means driving a car

or driving a golf ball

or driving cattle

We understand and apply them correctly because there is no conviction or emotion attached to them

Judge there is conviction and emotion so we want to do anything we can to eliminate that and misusing the word and then calling someone a hypocrite has worked for ages and continues to work even though it is false

In Matthew 7:16 Jesus is describing how to discern false prophets or teachers....still works today…there are still false teachers out there

There are also false Christians out there

So we are to discern

to judge

to inspect fruit

not to decide or condemn or punish or sentence but to identify

You are to look at fruits

are the spiritual or fleshly

You have to judge…determine what fruit is present

determine if it is of God or of satan

Again only two choices

You must be a fruit inspector in your own life first and foremost

Ask God to search and show you your heart

Ask God to search and show you your fruit

Judge what God shows you

If it is spiritual keep it and

If it is fleshly confess and cast it away from you…repent....run the other direction

Judging or being critical comes down to your heart

Romans 2:1-3

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“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Starts very strong

No Excuse

Why no excuse

because you have the Word of God not only to read but also living inside of you as a Christian

For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself

Why

Because you deserve hell just like they do

You sin just like they do

Jesus died for you just like them

You aren’t Jesus

If you refuse to forgive you are not forgiven!

Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 says the wages or payment or outcome of that sin is death

WHO ARE YOU???????

Instead of being critical be welcoming

Romans 15:7

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“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

But they are my enemy

But they hurt me

But they stole from me

But they said horrible things about me

But they beat me

But they

But they

But they

Romans 5:7-8

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“For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

But you were God’s enemy

But you hurt God

But you stole from God

But you said horrible, still say horrible things about God

But you drove the nails

But you

But you

But you

It is all about the heart.

Church don’t you realize the great price that Jesus paid for you on the cross?

Don’t you realize that He did that when you HATED him?

You must see everyone through the cross

You must see everyone as Jesus sees them

Welcome them

Love them

Forgive them

Help them see their sins with love and mercy and grace

So many times you see the hurt

You see the pain

You see what they did

And I am not saying that those things were not horrible

they were

they hurt

they still hurt

they may hurt until you get to heaven

But they are no more important or no worse than what you did to Jesus

and no more important or worse than what you have done, are doing and will do to others

WHO ARE YOU?

Your tongue and words can do so much eternal damage or bring glory to God

How you treat people can drive them away from God or to God

You have a choice

Criticize or praise

Grumble or glorify

Complain or worship

When you see ungoldly

unbiblical

unspiritual fruit

you reproof in love and mercy and grace not criticize

You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

God gives you directions to follow when a brother, a Christian, a fellow church member does you wrong

Matthew 18:15-17

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““If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence 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, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Most of you want to jump to the last part of the scripture....kick them out

Get rid of them

They hurt me and don’t deserve to be here anymore

You are just as bad as they are

Stand on God’s Word

Have you had a one on one conversation with them

Have you expressed the fact that they hurt you

Have you dealt directly with them

Not post something on facebook or other social media platforms criticizing them

Not blowing up a website with horrible reviews

Not gossiping behind their back......that is what you are doing

You may say I am seeking advice no you are gossiping

Have you done what Jesus said here in Matthew

Have you gone to them

Have you had a conversation

But Pastor Josh that is uncomfortable

I don’t like confrontation

I don’t care

Jesus said go to them

Talk with them

Let them know they hurt you

Most of the time people are not even aware they did something to hurt you

They don’t know they hurt you and you are out here criticizing them

They hear that criticism

They don’t stand on God’s Word and start criticizing you back in return

Now we have two Christians

Followers of Jesus

God’s Children

His ambassadors

Running around criticizing each other driving people away from Christ

STAND ON GOD’S WORD

Go to them

Have a conversation

Allow the Holy Spirit to give you words and guidance

Pray about it

Fast about it

Discuss it with your pastor or elders

Seek God

Then stand on God’s Word and have the conversation

Until then keep you mouth shut

Don’t blast it on social media

Don’t go around criticizing them to anyone who will listen

STAND ON GOD’S WORD

You have a choice

You love God

or you love the world

You criticize

or count it all joy

The alter is open

Come and meet Jesus

Come to pray

Come to be prayed with

Come to be prayed over

Are you sick, call the elders to be anointed with oil

Are you lacking wisdom, come and ask God and He will fill you

You have a choice

Come and deal with whatever or whoever God laid on your heart

or

reject it

sit there

and ignore God

The choice is yours!

STOP OBS

Invitation