WORLDCLASS SCRUTINIZERS

Lord willing, I will continue to post the "letters of Madam Darkshade", but for now, I am posting something I wrote a few days ago regarding criticism and scrutiny.

Romans 14:1-3, “Welcome people who are weak in faith, but don't get into an argument over differences of opinion. Some people believe that they can eat all kinds of food. Other people with weak faith believe that they can eat only vegetables. People who eat all foods should not despise people who eat only vegetables. In the same way, the vegetarians should not criticize people who eat all foods, because God has accepted those people (GWT).”

1 Corinthians 13:7a, “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person... (AMP)”

We have lost the art of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. In today's society, perhaps even more in the church, people have become avid critics. At some point in life, we all experience both sides of the judgmental spectrum. We have been criticized and we have criticized others. At some point in our lives, we move from childhood innocence, to an adolescent attitude, to grownup skepticism. Our disenchantment over the responsibilities of everyday life and the distaste for political government, spills over into how we think and respond to one another. When become experts at nitpicking one's motive, method, and mannerism. WE ARE WORLDCLASS SCRUTINIZERS.

For example, let's say there is a woman named Henrietta who likes to sing solo's in church. One Sunday in particular, as she is singing, she notices a fairly new convert (we'll call her Marie) staring at the ground, almost appearing as if she was anticipating the song to end. This starts to annoy Henrietta, eventually making her think to herself, Who does Marie think she is? It certainly looked like she didn't like my song. I don't know why. She probably thinks she could do better. Well, I got news for her...she can't! To put it mildly, Henrietta is mentally throwing Marie under the bus. What she doesn't know is that Marie, at the time, was going through a tragedy in her life. The day before, she told her boyfriend that she came to know Jesus Christ and that they could no longer live in fornication. Immediately, he decides to leave her. Now, Henrietta could give Marie the benefit of the doubt and maybe even attempt to get to know her to see if she needs encouragement, but instead, as many of us do, Henrietta decides to ignore Marie, while on occasions giving her a glaring look of disgust.

There are innumerable examples of the pitfalls of faultfinding, but for now, suffice it to say, we need to get back to the goal of edification and the attitude of optimism. F.B. Meyer once said that when you see a Christian in sin, there are two things we do not know: “First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her.” It is so easy to look at the mistakes of someone else and say, “I can't believe they did that. I would never do that.” I know of Christian families who believe good dinner talk is when you evaluate and scrutinize the spiritual devotion of others. Instead of roasting the chicken, they roast brothers and sisters in Christ. If they would put as much effort in getting to know a person, as they do demeaning them, they may find that the way of genuine communion, as opposed to gossip and criticism, brings far greater joy and satisfaction. Just a few years after Bible college, I learned that one person I had went to school with, messed up and got out of the ministry. I was stunned, but in time, my shock turned into a skeptical attitude over this individual's love for God and an expectancy that he would fail again. I have since sought to keep two things at the forefront of my mind, when hearing news like this. Firstly, I would be hopelessly lost, pathetically depraved, and utterly nothing without the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Secondly, God is the God of forgiveness and restoration. Am I condoning wickedness? No. Am I making light of peoples sins? Hardly. I am simply relaying the fact that we need to stop magnifying ourselves and start making much of the forgiveness and love of God.