Listening Without a Critical Ear

     The Pharisees constantly sought to catch Christ in His words.  They did not listen to learn; they listened to criticize.  We must guard against such a spirit - a spirit that is always looking for a fault, always waiting for a preacher to misspeak.  Faithful Gospel preachers are sinners saved by the grace of God. They are subject to the same weaknesses and infirmities of the flesh as those to whom they preach.  While they are called to proclaim God’s Truth, they are but sinners saved by grace.   

Therefore, when we sit under the preaching of God’s Word, let us listen to be fed, encouraged, and instructed.  Let us listen to hear Christ exalted rather than searching for a fault.  We should be careful not to make a preacher “an offender for a word” by focusing on a misplaced phrase while missing the message of Christ.  A critical spirit robs a person of the joy and profit that come from hearing the Word of God.  Critics rarely enjoy anything because they are always looking for what is wrong rather than receiving what is right.   

The prophet Isaiah warned against such an attitude: “For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought” (Isaiah 29:21-21). 

I pray God to give us humble hearts, ready to receive His Truth and to rejoice whenever Christ is faithfully preached (Philippians 1:15-18).  

      

 -preacher John Chapman