It's Easy To Be A Critic

I just came back from spending a week at a meeting of the leadership of the Reformed Church in America (RCA).  Pastors and elders from across the US and Canada spent six days together to talk about the issues facing our denomination and, hopefully, make a few steps forward as sisters and brothers proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a meeting that happens every year, and this was the third time I've been a delegate in the past four years.

Over the course of the meeting we would worship together, listen to reports, and discuss, debate and vote on various bits of business.  Debate may be a bit of an understatement.  There are some issues that the RCA has been wrestling with for many years.  Each year they present themselves in different ways.  Sometimes the presentation is clear and direct, and at other times more subtle and indirect.  Either way, on the floor of the assembly the lines separating two issues are often quite clear to nearly everyone.  I want to add that while there are sharp differences in points-of-view, they are generally shared without acrimony. 

This year as we dealt with the more controversial issues I found it exceedingly easy to listen and know what I was against.  In my mind it was easy to find the holes in a particular argument, and to also wonder why that faulty argument would hold up in the mind of so many delegates.  But a life, or a church for that matter, that is characterized by what it is against, is not likely to be a person or place where much joy is to be found.  In conversation with several friends after the day's session, we asked the question, "Instead what are we against, what is it that we are for?"  It is easy to be a critic, but what were we lifting up as good alternatives? It turned out that there were a lot of things that we were "for."

Being against things has its place, and all Christians should grow in biblical understanding and wisdom as they follow Christ.  The Bible teaches that there are things that are right, and things that are wrong, and that the boundary line between them may not always be seen clearly. 

Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man?, and then provides the answer of: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Understanding the biblical view of what we should be "for," and then pursuing that as we cast off what the Bible is "against," is the way to bring glory to God. It is the way to live today with joy as God's children. It is a joy we can taste and savor now as we look forward to the day when we will experience God in all his glory.  Being a critic may have its place, but only as it leads to joy in the Lord.