Archive for June, 2012

Love Dare, Part 2

Posted: June 29, 2012 in Marriage
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Love Dare Day 3 is Love is not selfish or as Paul would say, “love does not seek her own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). We asked to answer these questions:

1. Do I truly want what’s best for my husband or wife?

2. Do I want them to feel loved by me?

3. Do they believe I have their best interests in mind?

4. Do they see me as looking out for myself first?

This chapter closes with Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” The Dare for Day 3 is “Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, ‘I was thinking of you today.’”  Since my wife has been sick for a couple of days, I bought her some flowers to cheer her up.

The Pastor & Personal Criticism by C. J. Mahaney (Too High An Estimation) Part 9

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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This post on criticism is an excellent application of Romans 12:3: “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3 ESV).

How I perceive myself makes all the difference in how I receive and respond to personal criticism.

When a pastor is on the receiving end of criticism and correction, temptations are never far off. In my experience, the higher my estimation of myself, the closer those temptations are. Criticism contradicts my high view of myself—so I am tempted to respond sinfully.

How differently the Apostle Paul responded to criticism!

We read of Paul’s response in 2 Corinthians, a very personal epistle. In chapters 10–13 Paul responds to the criticism leveled against him. He could have defended himself with an account of his incredible personal experiences or with his years of service to the church. Yet he chose to respond to the personal criticism with words like these:

Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. (2 Corinthians 12:6)

This passage deserves a re-read. In case you didn’t get Paul’s point the first time (and I certainly didn’t), perhaps the following comment on the passage by Dr. Don Carson will help you comprehend its full weight:

What is remarkable is the way Paul’s stance differs from our own. Many Christians today, even Christian leaders, go through life fearful that people will think too little of them. They quickly become irritable if someone, especially a junior, is praised more than they. But Paul goes through life fearful that people will think too much of him.*

Paul was fearful that people will think too much of him!? That’s not a fear that I am familiar with. Too often my concern is that people think too little of me—that they don’t share my high estimation of myself.

Yet the question every pastor must eventually answer in his own heart is this: Am I concerned that others have too low an estimation of me, or that they will have too high an estimation of me? How I respond to personal correction often reveals which concern rules my heart.

The first concern can ultimately be traced back to the presence of pride in the heart.

The second concern can only be explained by the active grace of God in the heart.

* D. A. Carson, Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1996), 80

The Love Dare, Part 1

Posted: June 27, 2012 in Marriage
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I just started The Love Dare, again. It has been several years since my wife and I went through the 40-day challenge. I am on Day 2. Day 1 is Love is Patient. The Dare for Day 1 is “to say nothing negative to your spouse at all.” So yesterday, I succeeded. Day 2 is Love is Kind. The author says that “kindness is love in action. If patience is how love reacts in order to minimize a negative circumstance, kindness is how love acts to maximize a positive circumstance…. Love makes you kind. And kindness makes you likeable.” Kindness is broken down into four measureable actions:

1. Gentleness. The Bible calls this virtue “meekness” in Ephesians 4:2. If we are gentle we are not harsh.

2. Helpfulness. “Being kind means you meet the needs of the moment. If it’s housework,you get busy.” My wife is sick today, so this one is easy. I went to the grocery store to get her favorite sick soup. Fix it. Served it.

3. Willingness. “Kindness inspires you to be agreeable. Instead of being obstinate, reluctant or stubborn, you cooperate, you stay flexible.”  No rolling of the eyes permitted.

4. Initiative. “Kindness thinks ahead, then makes the first step. The kind husband or wife will be the one who greets first, smiles first, serves first, and forgives first.”

The Dare for Day 2: “In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindess.” Later this evening I am going to get Becky a McDonald’s parfait.

The Pastor and Personal Criticism by C. J. Mahaney (Why Faithful Pastors Will Be Criticized) Part 8

Posted: June 16, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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This post by Mahaney is a good reminder that no pastor is exempt from criticism. But in comparison to the criticism Calvin experienced, our criticism though painful is small.

The great reformer and pastor John Calvin was no stranger to criticism. One of his biographers reports that he “was not unfamiliar with the sound of mobs outside his house [in Geneva] threatening to throw him in the river and firing their muskets”[1]. In fact, near the end of his life Calvin said this to a gathering of pastors: “I have lived here amid continual bickering. I have been from derision saluted of an evening before my door with forty or fifty shots of an arquebus”[2], an arquebus being a large muzzle-loaded rifle that emitted a boom and a large cloud of smoke with each firing. Fifty rounds! And you thought you had critics!

I have been criticized, but to date I have never been threatened like this.

Yet Calvin faithfully ministered in the midst of this severe opposition because he was prepared for it. He understood that the faithful pastor will be criticized.

This wisdom is evident in the following quote from his commentary on 1 Timothy 5:19:

None are more exposed to slanders and insults than godly teachers. This comes not only from the difficulty of their duties, which are so great that sometimes they sink under them, or stagger or halt or take a false step, so that wicked men find many occasions of finding fault with them; but added to that, even when they do all their duties correctly and commit not even the smallest error, they never avoid a thousand criticisms.

It is indeed a trick of Satan to estrange men from their ministers so as gradually to bring their teaching into contempt. In this way not only is wrong done to innocent people whose reputation is undeservedly injured, but the authority of God’s holy teaching is diminished….

The more sincerely any pastor strives to further Christ’s kingdom, the more he is loaded with spite, the more fierce do the attacks upon him become. And not only so, but as soon as any charge is made against ministers of the Word, it is believed as surely and firmly as if it had been already proved. This happens not only because a higher standard of integrity is required from them, but because Satan makes most people, in fact nearly everyone, over credulous so that without investigation, they eagerly condemn their pastors whose good name they ought to be defending.[3]

The same man who wrote these words faced “continual bickerings,” gunfire, and the threat of drowning. If this was the criticism Calvin faced, then no pastor should be surprised when criticism arrives. Even the most faithful pastors will be criticized.

Knowing this will protect me from a number of temptations. It will certainly protect me from self-pity. I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself just because people say unkind and inaccurate things about me. This would be yet another evidence of pride in my life.

The opposition I have experienced is…well, I am embarrassed to even reference it in light of Calvin’s experience.

But amidst the criticism and opposition, Calvin pressed on.

So should you.

[1] Parker, Portrait of Calvin (Oxford, 1989), 29.
[2] John Dillenberger, John Calvin: Selections from His Writings (Anchor Books, 1975), 42.
[3] Calvin, The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians and the Epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon (Eerdmans, 1996), 263

The Pastor and Personal Criticism (Deal Gently with Your Critic) by C. J. Mahaney, Part 7

Posted: June 14, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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Here is an excerpt from the seventh post by Mahaney.

Where has John Newton been all my life?

Newton has recently become a mentor for me. He is a rare embodiment of pastoral humility, compassion, wisdom, and courage, and is always theologically informed and gospel centered.

I see his compelling pastoral example particularly in the words of his letters, first written to inquirers and later published for broad readership. Those letters have had a significant effect on my soul and life, and made a huge difference in how I view and respond to criticism. This is especially true of his letter titled “On Controversy.”

In this letter Newton explains how to humbly respond to an opponent when engaged in a potentially heated theological debate. The context is obviously different from personal criticism, but you will see that Newton’s instruction is relevant to pastors who experience the sting of personal criticism.

In his letter, Newton makes three particularly important points:

1. Pray for your critic.

As to your opponent, I wish, that, before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him.

In reality, it is difficult for me to sinfully judge—or even indefinitely dislike—someone I am consistently praying for.

2. If your critic is a believer, count them your brother or sister in Christ.

If you account [your opponent] a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab concerning Absalom are very applicable: “Deal gently with him for my sake” [2 Samuel 18:5]. The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself. In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

“Dearer to me than the nearest friend.” How is that possible? It is possible in light of eternity, and it is possible because he is a brother for whom Christ also died (Romans 14:15).

Please read Newton’s words again (they cannot possibly be digested in one quick read). This paragraph is full of convicting wisdom. I have read it many, many times and I plan to return to it again, particularly when I am being criticized. This perspective will transform your attitude toward your critic.

3. Or, if your critic is not a believer, show them compassion as an unbeliever who needs Christ.

But if you look upon him as an unconverted person, in a state of enmity against God and his grace (a supposition which, without good evidence, you should be very unwilling to admit), he is a more proper subject of your compassion then of your anger.*

* John Newton, The Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:268–269.

The Pastor and Personal Criticism (Adding a Few Smudges to My Moral Portrait) by C. J. Mahaney, Part 6

Posted: June 11, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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This post is so good, I’m including all of it.

Many quotes from the writings and sermons of Charles Spurgeon have served my soul over the years. And there is one particular quote that has served me big time when it comes to personal criticism. I review the quote either before personal criticism arrives (if I have advance warning), or after the criticism appears (if it was a surprise). It both prepares my heart for coming criticism, and provides perspective for my heart once the criticism has been shared.

Check it out:

Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few blacker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth.*

On different occasions over the years I have been on the receiving end of criticism from someone who appeared to have, well, a bad attitude. When this happens I am tempted to be offended by that attitude, and prematurely relieved, concluding that any criticism brought in such an attitude must certainly be inaccurate. And it might be inaccurate (or not). But even if the criticism is inaccurate, any relief I experience is a short-lived when I am reminded of Mr. Spurgeon’s words.

Even if the criticism is inaccurate, that leaves no room for my pride. This is due to the fact that I am more fully informed of my own sin than any critic. More importantly, God is perfectly informed of all my sins. So even if the correction is proven totally inaccurate, I shouldn’t be prouder for it.

Knowing this restrains me from too quickly criticizing and dismissing the perceptions of others, even if their correction is severe, even if their hearts don’t seem humble and kind, and even if their content is largely inaccurate. I can always learn from criticism one simple lesson: I am worse than they think!

Surgeon’s quote humbles me, restrains my pride, and reminds me that I always need a Savior even when others cannot accurately see the true depth of my own sin. I have learned over the years that even when criticism is inaccurate, it should humble me and remind me of God’s accurate moral portrait of sinners like me. It should remind me that even the most ill-informed criticism is still more flattering than the reality.

* Charles Spurgeon, sermon, “David Dancing before the Ark because of His Election,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 35.

Sermon: Grow Up Don’t Just Grow Older (Ecclesiastes 12:1) Part One

Posted: June 11, 2012 in Sermons
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Growing older is a process from which we cannot escape and should not deny. Some people grow up, however, not just older. Like wine they get better with age. Some major poets are examples:

William Gladstone took up a new language when he was 70. At age 83, he became Prime Minister of Great Britain. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote “Crossing the Bar” at 80. John Wesley was still preaching every day when he was 88.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan was seeking reelection for a second term as United States president. Reagan was seventy-three years old, and his opponent had been deriding him for what they labeled the ‘senility factor.’ If elected Reagan would be the oldest president in U. S. history. During the televised debate with his opponent, former Vice President Walter Mondale, a reporter asked Reagan whether his age would be a handicap in the campaign. Reagan responded: ‘I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.’ Reagan’s quick rejoinder even forced a chuckle out of his opponent on national television (Henry Blackaby. Spiritual Leadership, p.169). Reagan was one month short of being 78 when he left office.

Dave Ramsey says that “Today 60 is now what 40 used to be in the business world. If necessary change your career.” When American jobs are being outsourced to other countries, you may have to retool in your career.

All of these leaders grew up and better not just older.

This is Solomon’s message to young people in Ecclesiastes. Listen to this plea in 12:1: “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while (or before) the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.”

So much of Ecclesiastes is found repeated in the New Testament. For example, in Ephesians 4:15, Paul says, “Grow up unto Christ in all things”

When Solomon commands, “Remember now your Creator” he is saying, “Respond to God now while you are young.” David helps us understand what is to remember in Psalm 103:18, “Remember his commandments to do them.” Hannah, who was barren in 1 Samuel 1 pled with God, “Remember me and give your handmaid a man child.” Hannah doesn’t believe God has had a lapse in His memory in regard to her infertility. She is praying God will respond to her prayer. And when God responded and gave her a baby, Hannah praised God saying, “The Lord remembered me.” God responded to Hannah’s prayer.

Solomon in his old age is staring death in the face and he is challenging young, potential leaders, “Don’t make the mistakes I made. Don’t waste your youth like I did. Respond to God now.”

First Solomon tells young people how to respond and then he tells them why.

1. How Can Young People Respond to God? How can all of us grow up not just grow older?

This is the last of six Enjoy Passages in Ecclesiastes: 2:24-26; 3:12-15; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7-10; 11:9-10.

A. Enjoy Your Life which is a Gift From God (2:24). Job recognized this after his 10 children were killed. Job said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes.”

B. Enjoy Your Blessings of Life as Gifts from God (3:13). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father” (James 1:17).

C. Enjoy Your Ability to Enjoy as a Gift from God (5:18, 19). To enjoy God’s gifts one needs to be a believer who recognizes these gifts as from God. The unsaved are like the wealthy person at Ruth Chris who is about to dive into his steak that has been cooked to perfection. He carves off his first bite of his medium well and places the piece into his mouth. He sinks his teeth into the warm meat and feels the juice ooze out. But tastes nothing because he has no taste buds.

He is like the guy with the can of peaches with no can opener. Jesus has the can opener.

D. Enjoy Your Youth as a Temporary Gift from God (11:9-10)

Solomon is saying in 11:9, “Enjoy your life which God has given you. Solomon is not saying enjoy sin.” You can follow your heart only if your heart is surrendered to the God who is also your Judge to whom one day you will give an account. This is not the Hollywood counsel to follow your heart or follow your feelings.

David put it this way in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the delights of your heart.” When Solomon was young and in love with the Lord in 1 Kings 3:3, God said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” God knew Solomon would ask for what God wanted him to have, wisdom to live for Him.

Solomon warns from experience in 11:10: If your delight is not in God in your youth, you will be frustrated, depressed, and filled with regrets. Put away evil now. Solomon did not continue to love the Lord. Solomon did not continue to grow up and look at the mess he got into in 1 Kings 11. Spurgeon said, “Youthful sins lay a foundation for aged sorrows.”

In my next post, we will study Why Should Young People Respond to God Now? Why should all of us grow up not just grow older?


The Pastor & Personal Criticism (The Pastor’s Wife and Her Role When Criticism Arrives) by C. J. Mahaney (Part 5)

Posted: June 8, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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C. J. Mahaney provides three ways a pastor’s wife can help her husband when he is criticized:

When criticism arrives, the pastor is wise to share the criticism with his wife. But in doing this he must protect his wife from these predictable temptations. He does this in these ways:

First, he should examine his own heart and his motives, humble himself, and review a biblical understanding of criticism’s value in his life.

Second, and as much as possible, he should listen to the criticism and correction with an objective ear, not being preoccupied with the attitude of the one bringing it, nor becoming distracted by details in the criticism that may be inaccurate. Further, the pastor must learn to separate any concern he might have about the person bringing correction from the content of what he is saying. He can then turn to his wife, share those points of criticism, and ask: “Can you confirm this from your experience? Do you see this in my life?”

Third, when he shares the critical observation with his wife, he should avoid letting the conversation deteriorate into criticizing the critic. He must avoid the temptation to merely seek her support, her defense, and her agreement.

Carolyn Mahaney has blogged more on this subject here.

What Would It Take To Make You Happy? Sermon from Ecclesiastes

Posted: June 7, 2012 in Sermons
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What would it take for you to be happy? Would it take a purchase? Would winning  the lottery make you happy?.

Last May, a 76-year-old California woman was overjoyed to discover that she won $51 million in lottery, but now she is suing her son for allegedly commandeering her Mega Millions prize and spending much of it on 10 cars, 4 homes, a watercraft, a motor home, and cash gifts of about $350,000 to his daughters.. Urquhart had played the lottery for 18 years, purchasing tickets twice weekly, according to her declaration.

“Ronnie Orender was not supportive of my weekly lottery ticket purchases. He discouraged me from playing and told me it was a waste of my money,” Urquhart wrote in the declaration.

“Of the total lottery winnings received, I have received approximately $125,000 in cash, a Lincoln SUV and I have been provided a house to live in, but I am not the owner of the house,” Urquhart said.

Urquhart and her husband, Bob, are seeking $32 million in damages for fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and financial elder abuse, according to the complaint, which was filed in Kern Superior Court on April 23.

Did winning the lottery make this family happy?

What would it take to make you happy? Fill in the Blank.

Do you really think that if when you filled in the blank with what ever you think would make you happy, that you would be happy? What has been the experience of millions of people? They bought the possession that they thought would make them happy only to be disappointed in six months.

Some people fill the blank with retirement. If only I can retire, I will be happy. “More than one person has worked hard and looked forward to a comfortable retirement only to have a heart attack and become either an invalid or a statistic. Or the peace of retirement is shattered by a crisis in the family that begins to drain both money and strength” (Wiersbe, Be Satisfied, p. 74).

If only I could make six figures, I would be happy. If only I could get married. You achieve, purchase, accomplish all these things and you are still not happy.

So you make another list of things to chase in order to be happy.

Philosopher, Peter Kreeft, says that life is a wild goose chase with no goose.

Solomon in Ecclesiastes, confesses that he was on a wide goose chase with no goose. He chased pleasure but found no happiness (2:1-3). He chased wine, women, and wealth. His autobiography of those backslidden years is Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. Solomon experimented with pleasure (2:1-3), building projects (12:4-6), Solomon spent 7 years building the Temple and 13 years building his own house. Solomon also experimented with possessions (12:7-10). The result of his experiment is in 12:11, “all was vanity and frustration.”

Ed Young observed, “The loneliest day in our lives is when we experience our wildest dreams and come away empty. Success cannot fill us. Money cannot satisfy. The wealthy person’s chief advantage over those who are not is that he or she has already discovered that money does not bring happiness. True success is being right in the middle of God’s plan (Been There. Dpne That. Now What? pp. 105-106).

Solomon certainly does not discourage goals and dreams about the future. Solomon wrote Song of Solomon when young and in love and gives a theology of marriage or what kind of mate to look for. When in his middle age years, Solomon wrote Proverbs and tells us to plan and provide for the future like the ant.  Solomon also has regrets about the past which he shares in Ecclesiastes. But Solomon focuses now on the present. Enjoy what God has given you NOW. Savor the moment NOW.

1. Because Life Is Brief

A. Solomon uses the word “vanity” 38 times in Ecc. Vanity means transitory or fleeting. Vanity is the same word as Abel. Abel was an appropriate name for the youth whose life was cut short by a brother’s murderous hand. Abel’s life, like his name, was transitory and fleeting.

For the unsaved life is a shadow according to 8:12-13.

1. The unsaved person’s life is brief, like a shadow. It only exists as long as the sun is up. Jesus spoke of a certain rich man in Luke 16:19-25 whose existence in Hell made his brief life of wealth undesirable.

2. The unsaved person’s life is void, like a shadow. David spoke of life like a shadow in Psalm 144:3-4. A shadow is the empty outline of life, no joy.

3. The unsaved person’s life ends in darkness like a shadow as Jude 13 states.  Describing the unsaved, Jude wrote, “to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson said, “Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.”

B. Solomon therefore advises, use every day to its fullest for the Lord in 9:10.

1. The wise believer cannot control death (9:1-6).

2. The wise believer uses every day to its fullest (9:10). Our labor is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58). Paul in Col. 3:23-24 sounds like Solomon in 9:10, “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that  of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for you serve the Lord Christ” Col. 3:23-24).

2. Because Life is Frustrating

In 10:1, Solomon says life sometimes has a dead fly in the perfume which decays and sends forth a stinking odor. Life sometimes stinks. Job agreed in Job 5:7.

A. Wisdom cannot remove frustrations 1:13-18. Wisdom can make work easier (10:10) but wisdom does not extract frustration. Solomon was a walking Google according to 1 Kings.

B. Pleasure cannot remove frustrations 2:1-3. Solomon was a religious Hugh Hefner.

C. Wealth cannot remove frustrations 2:4-11. Even Paul despaired of life in 2 Cor 1:8

When Alan Redpath was pastor of Moody Memorial Church he had nervous breakdown in the pulpit. Redpath swore at his deacons and congregation from the pulpit and had to be dragged off the platform. Alan Redpath later said, “I made one major mistake – I replaced worship of God with work for God.”

3. Therefore enjoy the life God has given you in (2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 9:7-9).

“Don’t plan to live—start living now. Be satisfied with what He gives you and use it all for His glory” (Wiersbe, p. 75).

A. Life is a Gift from God (2:24-25). Job put it this way, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” Not only is God the creator of the Universe but you and me (Psalm 139:13). Not only does God sustain His Universe but He sustains you and me (Col 1:15-19). Our every breath and heart beat is a gift from God.

B. The blessings of life are a gift from God (3:13). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father” (James 1:17). Wiersbe observed, “If we focus more on the gifts than on the Giver, we are guilty of idolatry. The unsaved worship life instead of worshiping God the Giver of life. If we complain about life instead of enjoying the blessings of life we are guilty of ingratitude. If we hoard God’s blessings instead of sharing them, we are guilty of selfishness.”

C. The ability to enjoy the blessings of life is also a gift from God (5:18-20).

A commentator put it this way, “Every one of us walks around the earth with a can of peaches and Jesus is the only one with a can opener.” If we yield to His will and use what He gives us for His glory, then we can enjoy life and be satisfied (9:7-9).One of the things my wife and I like to do is go by Subway and get a 6 inch sub and take it the park. We sit, eat, and watch the ducks on the lake. And if I am in big spending mood we will ride the peddle-boats (Four dollars for 30 minutes).

Wealth is not just eating good food, but enjoying the food you eat. The unsaved are like a wealthy person ordering Ruth Chris’ most expensive steak. Cutting the steak, which has been cooked to perfection, putting the piece of steak in the month which has no taste buds.

Mark Driscoll in a sermon on Ecclesiastes said, “Wealth is not having a lot of stuff, it’s enjoying whatever you have. Wealth is having memories of the times that God enabled you to be happy. And wealth is having people you love to be happy with and to do good for. That makes you wealthy.”

The Pastor and Personal Criticism by C. J. Mahaney, Part 4

Posted: June 2, 2012 in Pastoral Theology
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Here is another excerpt from C. J. Mahaney’s posts on The Pastor and Personal Criticism. I am reading these as my devotions because, first of all, I am critical and secondly, so I can better glorify God when I am criticized. I like to look up the Scriptures in my Bible instead of just reading them in the post. Looking up the Scriptures in my translation gives me a second review and also helps me remember where the verse is if I need to go back and read it again as I meditate or if I need to share it with someone else.

  1. The Pastor and Personal Criticism
  2. The Pastor’s Temptations when Criticism Arrives
  3. Learning Wisdom by Embracing Criticism
  4. A Kind and Painful Bruising

Criticism wounds. It’s painful. Not all wounds are faithful wounds—some wounds come from reckless words that pierce like a sword (Proverbs 12:18). But I’m not talking about the sting of reckless words in this post. Today I am writing about the sting of criticism that comes even from a faithful wound (Proverbs 27:6). Even from a friend, criticism wounds.

But have you ever wondered what criticism wounds?

I think the simple answer is that criticism wounds the sin that has not been mortified. A wise, older pastor once said to me: “C.J., what hurts isn’t dead yet.” And that is often what criticism wounds—my still-living, still-breathing pride.

Receiving criticism and correction is necessary, because it reveals the blind spots in my life and the pockets of pride that have not been put to death (Colossians 3:5, 12). Therefore we need correction. But by saying this I am not arguing that receiving criticism will be painless or enjoyable. Far from it!

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