Be Careful Little Mouths What You Say

Recently I was reading an article by Tim Challies and something he reminded me of something very important to keep in mind to when critiquing something or someone online, particularly those who are Pastors. We need to be cautious and careful about what we say online, especially if it is about a person. Whatever we say should be something we could say to them face to face. In this article Tim was talking about Pastor Mark Driscoll. Tim is responding to some of his readers that were obviously not fans of Driscoll:

We need to be certain that in our critiques we do not say things that we’d never say to him face-to-face and that we do not treat him as a guy that, since he is so remote from us, is somehow less human than we are. It’s an obvious point, I know, but in this depersonalized online world it’s worth reminding ourselves of it quite often. - Tim Challies

This struck a cord with me this week because lately I've been critiquing certain teachers in my head and I've even become angry with some of these teachers, all of whom I do not known personally. Even though I believe I have good reason to be critical of these teachers, I do not want to turn into a person that harbors bitterness and does not choose to love these people regardless of whether or not they are true believers.

So far, there have been very few instances where I've publicly spoken out against a specific person or ministry, but if I do write about people (particularly Pastors or teachers) I try to make sure that I am not dehumanizing them and saying things I wouldn't say to them face to face. I need to keep this in mind when I'm critiquing in my head as well! The goal in critiquing (at least in my view) is not to humiliate, be rude or hurtful, be disrespectful, or manipulate someone to thinking the way I do. The goal is to re-enforce truth. In the case of critiquing a Pastor, teacher, or ministry, the goal is to make sure that Christ is receiving the glory He deserves!

In regards to the article on Driscoll, Tim makes the point that people are truly being saved through Mark's ministry because He is preaching the Gospel! The man has good solid Biblical theology behind his teaching. Driscoll's critics usually choose to ignore that and instead they choose to pick apart his personality and his style of teaching. The truth is that we can see the fruits of this ministry (Matthew 7:15-20). There is wonderful fruit that continues to multiply out of that ministry each year. Regardless of how people feel about Mark's over-the-top personality, they have no place in arguing that his ministry is in any way fruitless.

If a ministry is not preaching the Gospel of Christ...that's another story. In this case you definitely have a reason for critique! My next post will be about Biblical Critiquing. Since I have been struggling with critiquing and judgments lately I feel its a good time to do some studying on what the Bible says about it.