O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

THE FOLLY OF FAULT FINDING

          One favourite Singaporean pastime is complaining. It is common to hear complaints about the rising cost of living, our public transport, expensive housing, the hot weather, the wet weather and food delivery service.

          A study of over 30,000 e-commerce customer reviews has revealed that Singaporeans are the ‘Complain Kings’ of Southeast Asia. We produce the greatest number of complaints in this region – more than one-third. The study also revealed that we are 25% more likely than Malaysians to ‘yell’ by writing our complaints in CAPITAL letters, and that the highest number of refund requests are made by Singaporeans.

          Is this a good thing to be proud of? No, it is actually a health hazard. In one episode of Pulse, an Emmy Award-winning health magazine show, Dr Robert Hales said, “They found in long-term studies of both men and women that those who complain a lot and have a negativistic attitude toward life have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks actually before the age of 60.”  

          Those who complain a lot may also be a hazard to others. People usually avoid them because they like to find fault. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that this fault-finding attitude is quite prevalent even among Christians. It has been said that we are often quick to judge others, that we have a self-righteous spirit, and that we love to criticise others. These observations are not completely unfounded. Our response to them should be to examine ourselves to see if we have been too critical and judgemental of others.

          Have we been too quick to criticise others for something they did or said without considering the cause of it or the context of it? Perhaps we notice that someone has stopped coming to church for some time, and we immediately conclude that he has backslid. But the actual reason is that he is physically unwell. How do we respond when a person tries to correct us in order to help us improve and grow spiritually? Do we misjudge his motives and think that he has turned against us?

          Have we judged someone wrongly because of his outward appearance or place of origin? When Philip told Nathaniel in John 1:45 that they had found the Messiah and that He was from Nazareth, Nathaniel’s immediate response was, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” This critical attitude is also expressed in the prejudice of the Pharisees against Jesus. They made a totally unfounded judgment about Him, just because He was from Galilee (John 7:52). Whenever we judge someone according to where he comes from or according to certain things he had done in his past without making an effort to know what he really is and what he is doing now, we fall into the fault-finding sin of the Pharisees.

          Because it is so easy to fall into this sin, the Lord Jesus gave strong words of warning against it in His Sermon on the Mount.

The Danger of Our Own Condemnation

          Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) This does not mean that we should never judge someone. Sometimes we need to exercise good judgment and discernment (cf. John 7:24). Some kinds of judging are in fact necessary. In the courts of Law, judges are responsible to make sound judgments based on the evidence presented to them.

          What then did Jesus mean when He said, “Judge not”? He was talking about the habit of finding fault in others. It is all right to judge, but not to be judgmental. Sometimes a person may be doing things out of ignorance, because he really does not know any better. One example of this is Apollos when he came to preach at Ephesus – Aquila and Priscilla took him aside privately after they had heard him preach, because something he said was not right. And Apollos was grateful for the correction he received from them (Acts 18:24-28). But what if Aquila and Priscilla had been judgemental, criticised him and written him off him as a false teacher? Then Apollos would never have been corrected.

          Reasons against being judgmental can be found in Romans 14:10-13 – “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

          The context of this passage is that some Christians had made certain specific practices like eating meat, and the celebration of certain days their criteria for judging others. Paul says that God alone is qualified to make such judgments. If we make such judgments, we put ourselves in the place of God.

          Let us therefore be careful not to judge any brother in Christ on the basis of something he does or does not do, as long as it does not violate any commandment of God. In moral and doctrinal matters, we need to correct people carefully. Thus, if I see a brother bowing down to worship an idol, or telling a lie, I would have to admonish him humbly and lovingly. But if the issue is not a moral one (such as personal convictions regarding vaccination), we must be careful not to become judgmental, or else we would usurp God’s authority.

          Another passage that shows this is James 4:11-12 – “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” This gives us another important reason why it is wrong to be judgmental: Because it is not done with the right spirit – the spirit of love. The law that is mentioned four times here is the one given in Leviticus 19:18 – “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” To judge your neighbour is to violate this law.

          This does not mean that when we love someone, we would never tell him if he has done wrong. 1 Corinthians 13:6 tells us that love “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” It would be very unloving to let a brother continue to live in sin when we know of it. We should rather speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and encourage him to obey God’s Word and repent of his sins.  If you ever need to correct a brother please do it with love, with his best interests at heart. Otherwise, you may become proud and self-righteous.

          Another reason why it is so dangerous to judge someone is found in Matthew 7:2 – “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Here, Jesus says that before we judge others, we must always remember that the very same standards which we use against them will be used against us. Therefore, we should never apply to others standards that we would not first apply to ourselves. God will judge us by the same standards that we use to judge others.

          Unfortunately, some have double standards – one which they use for judging others, and another for judging themselves: They impose very high standards and heavy burdens on others, but do not even attempt to keep to those standards themselves.

          So, whenever you want to judge someone who falls into sin, first ask if you would judge yourself by the same standards with which you are judging him. Put yourself in the dock and examine your own life: Do you have the same sins or worse sins in your own life that you have not repented of?

          When you do this, you will probably realise that very often, what you need to do for others is to be merciful to them rather than to make judgments against them. Since God has been merciful to you in dealing with your sins, you must be merciful to others in dealing with their sins.

          Jesus said that the measure that we mete to others is the measure we will receive. What is this measure all about? Some ancient rabbis used to say that God has two “measures” for judging the world – mercy and justice. Perhaps Jesus was using the same language here, but adapted to His own purposes. He who insists on showing justice without mercy for others will not receive mercy when he is judged. This is also stated in James 2:13 – “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”

          Therefore, when Jesus says, “Judge not” (Matthew 7:1) He is not telling us to shut our eyes to the faults of others and pretend that they are not there, but rather to be generous in showing mercy toward them, while dealing with their faults in an appropriate manner. We are to speak gently, tactfully and personally to them. We do this, because we realise that we are no better than them. We are all sinners saved by grace. What we are now is wholly by God’s grace alone and not ours through our own merit or strenuous efforts.

The Difficulty of Our Own Imperfection 

          This is seen in Matthew 7:3 – “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” This does not mean that a person can literally have a huge beam or wooden plank stuck in his eye. It is clearly a hyperbole, an intended exaggeration which is used to express intensity of feeling. From this, we can see the intensity of our Lord’s dislike for this sin of fault-finding.

          The point is that just as it is absurd for man with a huge beam in his eye to attempt to help the someone with a tiny speck in his eye, it is absurd for a man with glaring sins in his life to find fault with another who has lesser sins in his life. His own sins prevent him from being objective about the sins of others. It impairs his vision as to the guilt or innocence of others and disqualifies him from passing judgments on others. So, what should he do? He must first deal with the sin in his own life. Then he would be in a position to help others who have sinned, since his vision would no longer be impaired.

          This teaches us the necessity of keeping our lives clean from sin if we want to be of help to others. How do we do this? By constant self-examination and confession of all known sins and by asking God to reveal all our unknown sins. 1 John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

          Is there some secret sin in your life that you are still committing? Some sin that no one knows about except you, and that you have not repented of, but still persist in doing? As long as you have not dealt with that sin, you cannot be effective as a Christian. You will feel God’s heavy hand upon you. How can you help others to grow in love and purity, if you have done nothing about this sin in your life?

The Demand for Our Own Reformation

          The world today is so full of sins which need to be cleared away. But the right place for us to begin acting upon this need is within ourselves – we must deal first with our own faults. This is the way to apply what Jesus said in Matthew 7:5 – “…first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

          From now onwards whenever you hear any message from God’s Word don’t think about how it applies to others until you have asked, “Lord, is it I?” It is only when you have dealt with your own faults, that you will be in a position to help others deal with their faults. This does not mean that you must become absolutely faultless – no one can ever attain that, since sinless perfection is impossible in this life (cf. 1 John 1:8). What it means is that you must keep short accounts with God and leave no outstanding debts of unconfessed sins.

          Instead of being fault-finding, let us make every effort to deal with the sins in our own life, so that we can be used of God to help those who fall into sin with a humble attitude of love and mercy. For, if all of us turn out to be fallen casualties in urgent need of help in the spiritual battle field, who is there left to render first aid?

– Pastor

Appointments for the Week

Monday, March 6

        7.30 pm     No ERBL Lecture

Tuesday, March 7

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Dn Teo Kian Guan)

Wednesday, March 8

        3.00 pm     Gardeners’ Hangout

Thursday, March 9

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     No ERBL Lecture

Friday, March 10

        7.30 pm     MM BS

        8.00 pm     LF Meeting

Saturday, March 11

        3.00 pm     LTF / YAF / MM BS

Sunday, March 12

  8.00 am     God’s Requirements for Church  Leadership, Acts 6:1-7 (Rev Charles Seet)

  8.00 am Choir Practice

  9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

10.15 am Coffee Corner

11.00 am God’s Requirements for Church  Leadership, Acts 6:1-7 (Rev Charles Seet)

11.00 am Children’s Ministry

11.00 am Chinese Service

11.00 am Filipina Service (Rm 1-6)

12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Announcements

Church Camp 2023

13-16 June 2023

Anchoring Our Faith In A Postmodern World

Speaker: Pastor Tan Soon Yong

Radisson Golf & Convention Center, Batam

Registration for church camp 2023 is now open. You may go to the church's website at www.lifebpc.com/church-camp-2023 to register online. Please register early!

Infant Baptism on Easter

Sunday, 9 Apr 2023. Parents, please email the church office, with your full names, contact numbers, and your child's name and date of birth by 26 Mar 2023.

Ladies’ Friday Fellowship

10 Mar 2023, 8.00 pm

“A Study on the missionary journeys of Paul: Session 3” by Rev Quek KK.

All ladies are welcome.

Contact Sis Gillian for Zoom details. 

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is back!

Theme: Mission Himpossible.

Date: 31 May-2 Jun 2023.

Lifers needed for the available areas of service: teaching, logistics, craft, games, F&B and photography.  To register, visit lifebpc.com/vbs
Note: Children’s registration (4-12 years old [N2-P6]) will commence in March.

Door to Door Evangelism

5 March 2023 (Today)

Meet in Beulah Room 2-11, 12.30 pm

Traffic Wardens

Lifers are invited to serve our Lord as Traffic Wardens on Sunday. Kindly contact Dn Yeo HS if you are available.

Exploring Christianity

What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? If there is a good and powerful God, why do we have global pandemics and unrest in this world?  The answers can be found in the Bible, which is God's word to man.

Exploring Christianity is a course that looks at how the Bible addresses these pertinent questions about life. It is a 5-part series and is suitable for (1) Non-Christians searching to know who God is (2) Christians who would like to understand the basics of what it means to be a Christian.

The seminar will be held on 1 May 2023, from 9am-12.30pm at Beulah Centre. Lunch will be provided. All Lifers are encouraged to bring their non-Christian friends and family members to this introductory course on the Christian faith.

To register, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/ExpChr2023

Participating in upcoming Mission Trips in 2023 

We would like to encourage Life B-P Church members to participate actively in missions both in support and involvement (short-term or otherwise), including medical and dental (MaD) missions, with the hope that some may be called to be full-time missionaries. If you are interested to participate in the upcoming mission trips being planned for 2023, please register your interest by filling in this form: undefined

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