“Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.” (Mark 12:13NIV)
Who sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus? The religious leaders of the Jews. Why did they send them to Him? Well, as Mark tells us, they sent them to Him in order to catch Him in His words. In other words, they did not send them to Him to learn and drink from the wisdom of God at work in His life, neither did they send them to Him to be healed of any disease or sickness. Rather, they sent them to Him in order to pick something that He would say that they would use to condemn Him and His ministry. So, they are faultfinders.
In like manner, we have in the church today people who have become like those religious leaders of the Jews. They too attend church meetings, not to learn or be blessed but to pick something that the preacher might say that they may use to condemn him before the brethren or in the media. How, then, can such people grow in the things of God? They cannot grow. In fact, instead of experiencing spiritual growth and development, what they will ultimately experience, if they do not change their ways, is God’s judgment.
So, let me say this to you: if you should ever find yourself in a situation in which instead of going to a church meeting to learn, all you are out for is to pick something that the leader of your assembly might say that you will use against him, you had better leave that assembly. I mean that if you can no longer go for a church meeting to wholeheartedly talk to God and learn from Him, without looking out for something someone will say or do that you will use to abuse or discredit them, you had better sit at home or find somewhere else to go.
Why? The reason is that you are already bitter, though you may not know it, and have become a weapon that Satan may someday use to destroy someone’s reputation or to cause division in the body of Christ. And people who destroy the church of Christ in that manner can only expect God to destroy them as well. (Cf. 1Cor 3:17)
As we further see in the Scriptures, those religious leaders of the Jews did not stop looking for something that Jesus would say that they would use to condemn Him until they eventually killed Him. So, if it has become a culture for you too to attend church meetings only to look out for something someone would say that you would use to condemn them before other members of the church, before your family members, before your friends or in the media, you are a potential killer. And someday, if God does not stop you on time, you will kill somebody.
Mind you, it is not only in the church that we can be like that, looking for something someone will say that we will use to condemn them. We can be like that in our workplace or school. We can be like that in our neighbourhood. And we can even be like that among our family members.
That, of course, is why you cannot have a normal conversation with some people without getting into trouble at some point. That is because they are faultfinders. They are men and women that have trained their eyes and ears only to pick out errors in whatever others are doing. So, if you have them as friends, family members, close neighbours or colleagues, they will most likely ruin all other good relationships you already have or that you might have. That is because they will not stop showing you why you need to be angry with certain people, even if you can see no reason to be angry with them.
Well, my point is that you should avoid being a faultfinder. That is because a faultfinder is a trouble maker and destroyer. So, he will never have God’s praise but His judgment. And who can stand God’s judgment? No one!
Then don’t celebrate faultfinders or make a faultfinder a close companion or one that you discuss important matters of your life with. Otherwise, they will drive joy and peace of mind away from you through their evil speaking. And when they have nothing else to ruin in your life, they will begin to ruin you. That is when all the evil things they have provoked you to say against others will be exposed by them. Where, then, will you hide your face?
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