Do We Have The Gift Of Criticism?

The story is told of a preacher who one Sunday preached to the congregation about spiritual gifts. After the service, he was greeted at the door by a woman who announced, "Preacher, I believe I have the gift of criticism."

The preacher asked her, "Do you remember the person in Jesus' parable who had the one talent?" She immediately replied, "Yes, I do." The preacher then asked, "Do you recall what he did with his one talent?"

"Yes" replied the woman, "he went out and buried it" (Matthew 25:24-25). To which the preacher simply smiled and said, "Go and do likewise!"

Dear reader, if criticism is not given lovingly and with an honest desire to help, it can be cruel and destructive.

The principle found in Leviticus 19:17 still holds true today: "You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him." Note that these words are preceded by warnings against spreading slander and nursing hatred (Leviticus 19:13-16).

Before we criticize others, we should always ask ourselves the following three questions:

1) Am I motivated by a desire to truly help this person?
2) Am I planning to face this person honestly, but gently? (Gal. 6:1).
3) Am I doing this for the Lord and the spiritual growth of His kingdom?

If our goal is to help improve the spiritual lives of others, gentle criticism may be in order, however, if we answer in the negative to any of the above three questions, it's better for us to bury our criticism, as the preacher advised the woman to do at the beginning of this article.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets