The Eleventh Commandment: Don't Criticize

       There are plenty of man made commandments created by those in Charismatic circles. One of them is, and you've probably heard it before: "Don't criticize". You ever ask: "why? chapter, book and verse, please?" I have. And you'll usually just get a cold stare (try it, its fun). Well, let me state it clear as day: There is no sin in criticizing (loud gasp). When I say criticize, I mean "indicating someone's faults".Now, let me be clear: I do NOT endorse any form of murmuring nor gossip. This is sin. And not only is it sin, it is cowardly. I have been the victim, and continue to be the victim of gossip till this day (and it is something I absolutely detest). Why? Well, there are things that people will say behind your back, that on their best day, would never consider uttering in your presence. Now with that said, I do believe that it is biblical (Matthew 18:15), for a Christian brother to privately (and publicly, if said sin or issue should be dealt publicly) critique a fellow brother or pastor (obviously, we ought to have the deepest respect for those who are ministers of the word and be cautious on how we address them). 


Now, the bible no where condemns the use of critique (of course there are sinful reasons as to why you could be wanting to critique someone). But ultimatley, we do this for the glory of Christ. Macarthur puts it well:

"As vital as it is for us to enlist in the Truth War and do battle for our faith, it is even more important to remember why we are fighting- not merely for the thrill of vanquishing some foe or winning some argument, but out of a geniune love for Christ, who is the living, breathing embodiment of all that we hold true and worth fight for"- John Macarthur (The Truth War; Pg 18 of the introduction)

Jesus and the scriptures commend and encourage us to expose (or critique) false teachers. Here in lies the proof:


Revelation 2:14 


¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.


Revelation 2:20


²⁰ Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 


Here he commends the church in Ephesus for not tolerating false teachers: 


Revelation 2:2


² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 


Ephesians 5:1


¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them


1 Timothy 1:3


³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer


2 Timothy 2:16-18


¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.


- (Here Paul not only critiques the error of these men, but he does it in a letter to Timothy and calls them by name) The nerve of Paul! 

2 Timothy 4:14-15

¹⁴ Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵ You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

-(More rebuke and naming by Paul)

Titus 1:9

⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

-(This is Paul giving instructions to Titus on what qualities an elder must have. Paul tells Titus to establish elders who will be faithful to the word and refute those who oppose it! Now, come on Paul, don't ya know it's a sin to debate? I guess Paul was just one of those crazy Calvinists.)

1 John 4:1

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(Note: testing every spirit usually involves judging what said person has taught in comparison to the word)

3 John: 9-10

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. ¹⁰ So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

Seems to me, that our post-modern, 21st century has produced some softies along the way. Now, it is said that critiquing is mean, or can hurt people. What is always given a back seat is the Gospel of the Lord, which those poor sinners and even Christians need to hear week in and week out. It PAINS ME to see Christians who will rather be loyal to a pastor than to be loyal to the Christ who is HEAD over that pastor. Folks, the gospel is the heart of Christianity. Let us NEVER compromise on it for the sake of unity and peace. When the gospel is distorted and turned into some man centered therapeutic nonsense, there is no peace. At the same time, let us do this while being gracious and humble. 

In Christ, Awretchsaved