Criticism⤒🔗

In our society, there is an awful lot of criticism, especially of people who are in the public eye. It does not matter what someone’s position is; football coach or minister of the crown or mayor. If he makes a decision that others do not consider right, the ugliest things are often said or written about him.

Much of this criticism is unfounded. The proverb still applies: “The best helmsmen are on the shore.” Those who know the least about it often have the biggest mouths. Yet this criticism is not without effect. In this way, relationships in society are undermined.

This state of affairs is often defended with the argument of the right of freedom of expression, as if that right of freedom of expression means that you can trample on the rights of your neighbour.

In the Church←⤒🔗

Unfortunately, this attitude in society also has an impact on the church. In church life, too, an alarming amount of criticism is given, of brothers and sisters, because he or she happens to dress differently than the critic would like, or because that person has different ideas about liturgical matters that you can not handle. People are sometimes rejected for the slightest thing.

Criticism is also very easily directed at the church and to officebearers, particularly about the preaching. My wife and I recently went to a wedding elsewhere in the country. Due to traffic jams, we were late for the church confirmation of the marriage. At the reception we were immediately told, "You didn’t miss anything, because the sermon was nothing anyway."

We really do not have to agree with everything. We are allowed to have our own point of view and do not have to swallow everything. But in the church too, it is so easy to judge and condemn in a way that does not do justice to people and that is at odds with loving your neighbor as yourself.

In Corinth←⤒🔗

This is not a problem only of the twenty-first century. Paul also had to deal with it in the church in Corinth. There were groups in that church that could not tolerate each other. One group called themselves followers of Paul; another group called themselves after Apollos, while a third group called themselves after Peter (Cephas). You can bet that these groups set themselves against each other and did not say very nice things about each other. In connection with this, Paul says four things worth considering about judging and criticizing in 1 Corinthians 4. In verse 5, he warns the Corinthians not to pass judgment before Jesus returns. We must not anticipate the judgment that belongs to the Lord. For on that day of days, when Jesus comes with the clouds, everything that is hidden will be brought to light. That will be a great discovery.

You will then see why believers, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, have made decisions that you have never understood, decisions that may have gone against the opinion of religious people, but were made out of love for God.

But then all the unfair criticism with which people have tried to undermine others or justify themselves will also be made public. That day will be a day of glory if you have loved the Lord Jesus and served him wholeheartedly. But if we have gotten in God’s way by judging, we will also know that. It is not for nothing that Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew: "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” (Matthew 7: 1-2).

Caution←⤒🔗

The great day of judgment that is coming urges us to be cautious in our judgment. Paul elaborates on that in this chapter. I want to mention a few things about that. He warns the Corinthians against being puffed up. That phrase to be puffed up makes you think of a balloon. It seems like a lot, but if you puncture it, there is nothing left. Then it is only air. Being puffed up is arrogance. Unfair criticism always has to do with arrogance.

If you say that brother X is no good because of his position on singing in worship, then you are essentially saying, "My position is better. I am therefore better. I have a better relationship with the Lord than he does." That is a form of judging that has everything to do with pride. The Bible nowhere says that we should think the same about everything. There may well be a difference of opinion. But with every difference of opinion, you will have to continue to love the other as a brother or sister in the Lord. That love keeps you from engaging in haughty criticism. Paul warns mightily against that haughtiness. He says, “For who makes you different?” Who says that you are greater than the other? After all, “what do you have that you did not receive?” Now if all that you possess is grace; if you owe everything to the mercy of God, what reason is there left to speak grand words against the other?

Being a King←⤒🔗

Those Corinthians, Paul says in verse 8, behave as if they are perfect believers who are beyond reproach. They are satisfied. They have become rich. They have made themselves kings (King James Version: they rule). They pretend that they are allowed to judge as kings with Christ, but that time has not yet come. That is a privilege the believers will one day receive, on the great day of Christ’s coming. Then they will be allowed to rule with Christ as king. But by their judgments and their criticism, they act as if that time has already come. Paul says, “If only you were already kings. Then we [Apollos and I] would have become kings with you.”

But it is not that far yet. You are looking ahead to that day of days. Believers are indeed anointed as kings by the Holy Spirit, but we are not yet kings. That will only become a reality at Jesus’ return. You can compare it to when David had to flee from king Saul. He was indeed anointed as king by Samuel. But he was not yet king. He wandered through the desert as a refugee. The devil tried to tempt him to look ahead to that kingship by killing Saul. But David had to wait for God’s time. In God’s time Saul died, and David became king. It is the same with believers. We wander in the desert of this earthly life. Our anointing as kings will only become a reality at Jesus’ return. The devil tries to tempt us to look ahead to that God-determined time by “playing judge” on this earth, but in this way the kingdom of God is being destroyed instead of being promoted.

Own Smallness←⤒🔗

Then Paul outlines his smallness and vulnerability in the rest of this chapter. That should make us think. When that smallness and vulnerability really sinks in, it makes us cautious. If the Lord wants to be gracious to me as a sinful person, why would he not be gracious to that other person, whose point of view I cannot possibly share. If the Lord is gracious to him, where do I get the right to cut him down with words because he thinks differently than I do?

When we get to know ourselves as sinners before God, we become gentle towards one another and strict with ourselves. Unfortunately, with the judging person, it is just the other way around. He is gentle to himself and strict with others. He has all kinds of excusing explanations for his own actions, but there is no such room for another. As long as we live on earth, we must know our place. Do not walk ahead of the Lord by judging, but be small and humble and put it into his hands. True faith is loving the Lord Jesus and following him—not exhibiting yourself by criticizing others, but believingly expecting it from him in all circumstances. If you live like this as a believer, you will be kept from airs and from arrogantly placing yourself above others.

Don’t get ahead of ourselves←⤒🔗

We live in a society in which we are called upon to stand up for our rights, to respond aggressively to anyone who gets in our way. That very quickly comes at the expense of our neighbor. Of course, it is true that we may stand up for our rights, and that we may point out to others that they are doing us injustice, but that should never be done in such as to harm our neighbor. That can happen very quickly with words. The Bible points us in many places to the sins of the tongue and to the fact that no person is without sin in this respect. It is not for nothing that we are called upon to pray to the Lord: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141).

But this notion in Paul, that judgment is coming, and we have no right to anticipate God’s judgment, is a warning that we should take very much to heart.