In my last post, I stated that there is a lot of in-fighting happening within the Christian church today. Christians disagree about worship styles, politics, women in church leadership, and other theological issues. It’s not a sin to disagree. We can interpret scripture differently and have opposing viewpoints. That’s okay. It is a sin to become critical, thinking that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Pride is a sin.
This begs the question - Shouldn’t we be discerning when it comes to our worship, theology, and our politics? Absolutely. Ask God to give you discernment. My concern is that it’s easy to label it discernment when it’s actually just being critical. We must pursue righteousness but at the same time, we must continually guard against an attitude that is self-righteousness.
In Numbers 12, as the Children of Israel wandered through the wilderness, Moses decides to re-marry. The Bible says, “Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.” Numbers 12:1 NLT Notice that first, they became critical of his choice for a wife. Next, they criticized him for his leadership. They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He spoken through us, too?” Numbers 12:2 NLT
See, here’s the thing - criticism grows. Once you find one thing wrong with someone or something, it’s so easy to find another and another. The truth is - If you look at any person, church, or organization long enough you will find something that is wrong with it. No one and nothing is perfect. And once you allow yourself to focus on the negative, and get critical, the enemy will help you find more things that are wrong. Criticism grows and that’s what happens in this story. But here’s the kicker. As Miriam and Aaron criticized their older brother, the Bible tells us this. “But the Lord heard them.” Numbers 12:2 NLT
We must remember that God is not up in heaven oblivious to what is going on down here, or to what’s being said. God heard them and so did Moses. Read the passage and notice that Moses doesn’t defend himself. Moses didn’t call a staff meeting, to bring everyone together, to address their criticism of his wife or of his leadership. He let God deal with it. Sometimes, when you get criticized it’s better to just take it and let God handle it. God will always defend you better than you can defend yourself. And the flip side is true as well. Many times when you see something wrong, instead of becoming critical, it’s best just to pray, turn it over to God, and trust Him to deal with it.
Look at how God dealt with it. The Bible says, “So immediately the Lord called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, ‘Go to the tabernacle, all three of you!’” 12:4. In the tabernacle, the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud. The Lord came down. God is inserting Himself into this conflict. God tells Aaron and Miriam to step forward. And God says – Listen to me. With the prophets, I speak to them in visions or dreams. But not with my servant Moses, I speak to him face to face. “So why were you not afraid to criticize My servant Moses?” Numbers 12:8 NLT V. 9 God was angry with them. These three look at each other and discover that Miriam is covered with leprosy.
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam were siblings. They were family. I think the moral of the story is that we need to be careful about being critical, especially of those in the family of God. When Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, with a critical spirit, it appears that God took it personally, In a similar vein, if you become critical of a member of the family of God, you just might find yourself being critical of God. God can take it personally. Said another way, if you are a person who is critical of a fellow believer in Jesus, you might just find yourself being critical of God Himself.
So in essence, yes be discerning but continually guard yourself against becoming judgmental of others, exalting yourself or your point of view while looking down on others. God is opposed to the proud. There is nothing worse than finding yourself in a position where God is opposed to you.