Matt and I always joke about having "the gift of a critical spirit". Whether it's movies or food, we are quick to offer up opinions. It was my brother who pointed this out to us. It was over a year ago on Easter Sunday. We were spending time with my family in Seattle and had picked a small church to go to before brunch. Not knowing anyone in the congregation, we sat back and absorbed the scene. Honestly, I can't really remember much about the service that morning, but the car ride back is easy to recall. As soon as we had our seat belts buckled, my sister Ashby, my husband Matt and I all began to pick apart the service. Everything from the bulletins that were handed to us as we arrived to the song the band played as we exited were under our judgmental microscope. My brother, who is not a regular church attender, sat quiet in the back. I waited for him to join in, or at least confess that he had slept through the entire service (surely he had something to say about the slide show, right?). Finally, one of us asked him what we thought, suddenly aware of the sway our criticism might be having on him. He lightly shook his head, a puzzled look on his face.
I don't remember his answer word for word, but he told us that he thought it was a great service. He didn't care about the corny worship leader, the dated decorations or the length of the message. He wanted to go to church and celebrate Jesus' resurrection and he did. Silenced and humbled, we nodded along to his answer.
Paul addresses the danger of criticism in great detail in Romans 14. Glancing over it this morning, I'm reminded of what really matters.
"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too." 14:17
I know that when soaked in grace and centered on Jesus, my critical spirit can be used for the good of the church. But apart from him, it's judgmental, haughty and wrong.
