SIMPLE THEOLOGY

Category: Discipleship

  • Hello, Advocate!

    Hello, Advocate!

    “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother” – Matthew 18:15

    “Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless.”

    ― Francis A. Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster

    Luke 10:29 – “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

    A Jewish lawyer to test Jesus had asked him how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the law said about it. The man responded by saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS, AND YOU WILL LIVE.” “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Instead of acknowledging his incapability to live according to the law, the lawyer has sought to justify himself. He wanted to show that he was already living right.

    The Problem

    It is not just a Jewish problem. I think there is a narcissist in every one of us. We must confess that it’s everyone’s problem. The problem lies at man’s heart is an unwillingness to acknowledge one’s mistakes and to seek grace because man by nature is self-oriented. Our self is important to all of us, and we instinctively try to defend ourselves, especially when we have to take responsibility for our actions and words that hurt others. 

    painting of man

    The problem of justifying one’s wrong actions began long ago in the Garden of Eden. Adam, instead of acknowledging his mistake, blamed Eve and God when confronted by God. He justified himself. Even Eve followed the trail of Adam by blaming the Serpent. Both Adam and Eve did not take responsibility for their sins. They were embarrassed to acknowledge that they were wrong.

    As the descendants of Adam and Eve, we too have expertise in justifying our wrongs when confronted. We see ourselves in that situation every day, maybe at home or work, and with friends and strangers. When confronted, we want to cover up our sins by guarding ourselves against the embarrassment of our faults and would like to paint a righteous image of ourselves. We all have an advocate within who is ever-present to defend us.

    One day in my conversation with a friend, I had spoken disgracefully of another friend. Upon hearing, my friend immediately confronted me that I was gossiping and unmerciful to my brother. I was upset by my friend’s confrontation, and soon the advocate in me justified my gossip. I tried to cover up my ghastly comments. After some time, I could see guilt resurfacing my heart and had to confess my offensive words.

    In another incident, when I confronted a preacher for wrongly interpreting a passage, the preacher took offence and began bragging about his greatness as a preacher instead of examining my comments. I could only see how self-centred he was.

    We all have similar issues with our self-importance and witness the same in others. It is essential to know that this is a problem that needs constant help.

    The Beginning of change

    Is this change even possible in an independent and self-obsessed culture?

    Every one of us is prone to fail in one or other ways daily. We fall in our thoughts, actions, behaviours, and in our relationships. Not many of us are willing to acknowledge one’s folly in contributing to the point of failure. We are more prone to blame others and are cynical towards others. We try to wrap ourselves in a fairy fantasy world of self-righteousness and perfectionism. Therefore, we fail to acknowledge the fundamental problem of our nature and give in to the blame game. 

    Justifying one’s faults gets dirty; the more we defend ourselves, the nastier we appear. In this process, one fails to acknowledge the fundamental problem with self, and we atone ourselves with words of self-righteousness by becoming our advocates. When we advocate ourselves, we manifest our sinfulness. The problem with us is that we have a high view of self and therefore demand respect from others.

    We all need to understand that we have nothing good in us, and God, in His mercy, called us by his gospel to become good, i.e., to become like his Son through his grace. The God-Man, our eternal High Priest, is our only advocate who makes us right.

    The only way to be grounded in reality is by exposing ourselves to the grace of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ every day. The gospel points us to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel shows that we are sinful, and there is nothing in us that could cover up for our sins and gives us a right standing before God. The sacrifice of our Perfect High Priest alone can atone for our sins. As our eternal high priest, he stands as the mediator between God and man. We are in right standing before God because of His imputed righteousness. Christ alone by the indwelling Spirit supplies the sanctifying grace to be conformed into His image.

    We need this gospel grace every day and need to acknowledge our sinfulness and the need for Christ’s redeeming grace. The Cross shows our incapacity of pleasing God and points us to the throne of grace where we can find mercy for our daily lives.

    If we live every day realising that we are people with weaknesses and need grace and help, we wouldn’t be embarrassed by others’ confrontations. There is grace available for us in Christ Jesus, which liberates us from our self-importance and all the unpleasant things that flow from it. 

    God’s Design for our change

    God’s dynamics for our change is in the institution of the church. God placed us in a church for our sanctification. We must get this straight; a failure to confess our sins upon confrontation by others is a failure to benefit from the one-another ministry in the body of Christ. Consider these Bible verses:

    • Love one another (John 13:34).
    • Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10).
    • Instruct one another (Romans 15:14).
    • Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).
    • Carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). 
    • Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 
    • In humility, consider others better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).
    • Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16).
    • Encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
    • Spur one another (Hebrews 10:24).
    • Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5). 
    • Confess your sins to each other (James 5:16).
    • Pray for one another (James 5:16).

    These are few among such commandments. There is much emphasis on healthy relationships in the church to build one another up. We must learn the crucial role that the church plays in our sanctification. The aim of speaking to others of their sins is not to undermine them but to restore them (Galatians 6:1). Nevertheless, confronting one another with love and gentleness (Galatians 6:1) when one is in the wrong builds up an individual, and the body of Christ and such is the mark that we love others (Proverbs 27:5; 28:23). 

    Ministry of others in the church is the means of God’s grace to us. If we are not submissive to the ministry of others, we are shutting ourselves to the transforming grace of our Lord. God helps us grow into the image of our Lord Jesus not just in isolation but also in the community of God’s redeemed people. If the church is God’s plan, then one another ministerial relationships are part of it. To receive correction from others and a willingness to confess our faults are part of these relationships in the body of Christ. Staying away from such relationships in the body of Christ stunts our growth. Part of our maturing happens in the meaningful, purposeful fellowships of God’s people.

    Therefore, immaturity persists in isolation, and maturity thrives in fellowship. Every believer must be glad upon confrontation of one’s faults by others and must count it as a blessing. Confrontation of our faults must always lead us to introspection and repentance. Such one-another ministerial relationships will build an individual and the body of Christ.

    May God bless you with His grace

    Picture: Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

  • Constructive Criticism: An Opportunity to Grow

    Constructive Criticism: An Opportunity to Grow

    Prov. 15:31 – “If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise” (NLT).

    If you build a ministry where no one can give you feedback, you are teaching your congregation to be proud and self-defensive.1 – Mark Dever

    I used to think I was a good preacher because many people used to thank me for my sermons. My superior in the organisation I worked for never gave me any feedback. Unfortunately, he only criticised me behind my back! When I began preaching in a new church, people appreciated my sermons, but there was one man who was not fully satisfied. Initially, I was quite reluctant to take his feedback because I thought I was doing well and didn’t need to improve. But over time, he helped me see areas in which I could improve and grow, and this has been a blessing to me and my ministry. This positive experience helped me realise that I actually need feedback in every other area of my life.

    The word ‘criticism’ usually carries a negative connotation. When people think of criticism, they usually think about fault-finding or being judgmental. Indeed, not all criticism out there is beneficial because many only intend to attack us or to pull us down. Such are often pessimistic, and prejudiced, and such criticism causes a lot of damage. We need to be careful to seek and learn from the right kind of criticism.

    Constructive criticism focuses primarily on improvement or development. Its aim is not to attack someone or their work, but instead, to help the person improve. Now this does not mean we don’t have negative things to say while giving constructive criticism. In fact, the reason for criticism is to draw attention to errors or imperfections. However, the purpose for doing this is intentionally to spur others on to improve in character or work.

    It is easy for us to become critical and judgmental when we see the errors of others. And we are quick to form a negative impression of others in our minds and to treat them as hopeless or evil people. However, we should avoid looking down on them. Instead, when we see errors in others, we should prayerfully seek opportunities to help them grow.

    We need to remember that “all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Rom. 3:23). All humans are flawed, and no one on this side of eternity is perfect. Even the best “saint” has his or her shortcomings, and this is because we all have sinful nature. We all will continue to struggle with our sinful nature as long as we live in this mortal frame. However, the gospel offers pardon for our sins, and also Christ’s redeeming grace for our everyday struggles:

    “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Ti. 2:11-14).

    Constructive criticism plays a very crucial part of building a healthy church and as well as a strong ministry. Our sanctification takes place in communion with other godly people and not in isolation. We need to be surrounded by people who love us, who can reprove us when they see our flaws, and who want to help us grow. We need people not only to show us our flaws, but also to point us to Christ’s redeeming grace for our change. We all need improvement in our character, behaviour, manner of speech, habits, ethics, work and a lot more. Therefore, we need to be open to change; that is to receive correction from others for our good.

    Receiving feedback or constructive criticism is a sign of our humility, and willingness to grow and improve. Such an attitude is necessary for all those in any form of ministry in the body of Christ. Our understanding of ourselves is highly warped, which can lead us to close doors for our growth. We are naturally defensive when people give us feedback or correction, which is a sign of pride. Humility of mind: not having a high opinion of one’s self is what we all need. We must let this realization sink deep within us that we are mere humans, sinners though saved by grace and that we are susceptible to fall and sometimes even into gross error. Such an awareness will enable us to be open to healthy constructive criticism and allow growth in our lives. Arrogance and defensiveness are hazardous to us as well as to the ministry in the church.

    I heard of a certain young man in a church who was excited to learn the Bible. He met with the leaders of the church to study the Word of God regularly, and asked many real and thought-provoking questions. The leaders of the church were impressed with the growth he was showing, and they eventually allowed him to preach. And, he did a good job. Soon after his sermon, people showered appreciations on him. But an elderly man was appalled at the response of the young man when he approached him with some feedback, “I know all these things, and you need not teach me!” Sadly, with all his learning, the young man failed to learn humility, and did not want to grow and improve.

    Unlike this young man, we must all consciously cultivate an attitude of accepting criticism without being defensive right from the time we are young Christians. Even though it is difficult, we must all learn to deny ourselves daily (Matt. 16:24), to clothe ourselves with humility, (1 Pet. 5:5), and aspire to have the mind of Christ in us (Phil. 2:5). This attitude is crucial for any of us to grow and to serve in the body of Christ.

    The Bible says that ‘a fool rejects reproof but a wise man will love reproof’ (Prov. 9:8-9).

    May God help us to be wise.

    1https://www.9marks.org/message/the-importance-of-feedback-in-pastoral-ministry/

    Courtesy: This article was Originally Written for and edited by AIPC team – https://equipindianchurches.com/blog/constructive-criticism-an-opportunity-to-grow/