The Roots of A Critical Spirit

The Roots of A Critical Spirit
James 4:1


Last week we were in Numbers 12 where we were looking at the danger of a critical spirit. In this passage we saw that Miriam and Aaron were "speaking against" Moses. The nature of their speaking against him doesn't seem all that bad, does it (something to do with his Cushite wife)? Yet it was significant enough in God's eyes that He responded to that criticism very strongly. One of the thoughts I had this past week is that this kind of response on God's part may seem foreign to us because of our growing up in the United States where "freedom of expression" is one of those inalienable rights that we hold so dearly.


There are two issues here that come into play. The first has to do with speaking against duly ordained authority, and the second has to do with spreading dissension. We developed the spreading dissension aspect by looking at Prov. 6:16-19 where we saw that "sowing discord among the brethren" is an "abomination" in God's eyes, but what about this matter of speaking against your authority?

How many of you have ever heard a sermon taken from 1 Sam. 24:1-7. This is the story of David and Saul when David is on the run. Saul wants to kill him because so many of the nation of Israel are enamored with David. And even thought the people of the nation want David to be king, and even though God has already chosen David to be the next king, and even though the prophet had anointed David to be the next king, Saul is king. As such, he is David's duly ordained authority, and as such, David has to live under Saul's authority and treat him with due respect.

Well, the opportunity comes up for David to kill Saul. Saul is asleep, and David sneaks into his camp, but instead of killing Saul, he humiliates him by cutting off a part of his robe. In this little scenario, David articulates a timeless principle. When his soldier says, "The Lord has delivered your enemy into you hand, kill him," David says, "I will not lift up my hand against the Lord's anointed."

That is the principle that was being violated when Miriam and Aaron "spoke against" Moses. And that is why God responded so strongly. He publicly, visibly, disciplined her for a prolonged period of time. And so the entire nation of Israel sat in neutral for a week while God dealt with Miriam.

Today, we are going to be looking at the roots of a critical spirit. In other words, the critical spirit is a surface issue, there is something beneath the surface we need to address. The critical spirit is a manifestation of something deeper. And it is silly to treat surface problems, right? We don't put band-aids on basal cell carcinomas, do we? We get out the scalpel and treat it conclusively.

So let's look at this passage in James 4:1 where we see the root of all sinful expressions, especially a critical spirit. "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?" These two words, "wars" and "fights" refer to prolonged conflict, as well as smaller conflicts. They span the spectrum from armed conflict like we see all over the world, to the verbal conflicts that may have taken place on the way to church this morning! James is telling us that these things happen because in our heart, we have desires that are fighting for supremacy, or control.

"We want what we want, when we want it. And when we don't get it, bad stuff happens if the Spirit of God is not in control of my life."

Let's look at three heart issues that generate a critical spirit. The first is found in last week's text, Numbers 11 &12, where we see a spirit of envy in Miriam and Aaron. This spirit of envy isn't explicitly recorded for us, but when you look at the flow of these two chapters, you can see something interesting. Listen to this series of verses while I read them.

11:1 - Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord hear it, and his anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed, the fire was quenched."

11:16 - God gives Moses 70 assistants to help with the administration of the nation. "So the Lord said to Moses, "Gather to me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone."

11:18 - when the people were complaining about not having meat to eat - "Then you shall say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat."

It is in the context of Moses stopping a plague simply by praying, and Moses providing meat for the nation simply by praying, and Moses having so much of the Spirit of God that he can share it with 70 other men who are going to help him with the nation, that we come to chapter 12:1 where we read, "Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses and said, 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses and not us also?" The envy is pretty obvious, isn't it?

Envy produces a critical spirit. I remember the first time I saw how this worked, and it was 43 years ago! I still remember it today! I was about 7 years old, and my older brother had just received his first shotgun, a .410, and I was so proud of him. In fact, I was so proud I immediately ran down the road to tell my friend Mark. And to this day I can still see Mark's face and hear his voice as he said, "I wouldn't have it." Even at that young age, I saw the dismissive contempt in his voice was really nothing more than envy. And that spirit of envy was producing a critical spirit.

What I have learned over the years is to look for envy at some level whenever I see a critical spirit. If it isn't envy driving the critical spirit, it's probably pride, which is what we see in our next source of a critical spirit. Look with me next at 1 Sam. 18:5-9.

"So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him: and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

Do you see how Saul's pride had been wounded? And what did that wounded pride generate in his heart? A critical spirit.

We see another example of this in the life of David in 2 Sam. 6. This is the story of David coming back to Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant, and he is so thrilled that the Ark is back in the Tabernacle that he sets aside his kingly decorum, and in verse 14 we read that, "David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, Saul's daughter [who also happens to be David's wife], looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart." How's that for a critical spirit? Now drop down to verse 20. "Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today [just in case you can't see it, this is sarcasm], uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

Do you see how her wounded pride as generated a critical spirit? Her husband was the king, and in her estimation, the King doesn't take off his ephod and dance in the streets. That is what the "underclass" does (she uses the term "base fellows"). And as a side note, God severely chastises her. Look in verse 21. So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, bu them I will be held in honor. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."

Do you see the pride that has been wounded, which in turn generates the critical spirit? It is no coincidence that proud, or arrogant people are also very critical people. We don't have time to look at it this morning, but spend some time this afternoon in Luke 7:36-50 where you have the story of the Pharisee Simon and the woman who anoints Jesus' feet. As Simon watches Jesus' interaction with this woman, you can hear his critical spirit as he says to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."

The final heart issue that generates a critical spirit is a spirit of hypocrisy. For an illustration of this one, we are going to look into the New Testament, so let's look at Mt. 7:1-5.

"Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye, and look, a plank is in your own eye?" Hypocrite! First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

We see an example of this concept in action in the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:2-11.

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery [This is significant that it was the Scribes and Pharisees, two groups of religious leaders known for their hypocrisy]. And when they had set her in the midst [this is a public humiliation], they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded that such should be stoned, but what do you say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear [I love this dismissive act on the part of Jesus]. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heart it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

Did you see how Jesus gets right to the heart of the pharisaical, hypocritical issue here? These men, because of the planks in their own eyes, couldn't see clearly enough to see the speck in the adulterous woman's eye. Which is really interesting when you think about it, because adultery is not small sin! But Jesus masterfully makes a statement that exposes the motives of these men when He said, " he who is without sin can cast the first stone."

Do you remember me saying last week in our definition of a critical spirit that a critical spirit is marked by a lack of a solution?


So what does all this mean for us this morning? A critical spirit is like a warning light on the dashboard of your car. When that little orange light comes on, you know there is something wrong under the hood. It may be that you are low on gas, or that it is about time to change the oil, or that you have a slow leak in your radiator and the engine is overheating - but the presence of the orange warning light means that something isn't right with the engine. That is what the presence of a critical spirit indicates. Either there is a a spirit of envy in the heart, or a spirit of pride that needs to be dealt with, or simply the presence of a hypocritical, judgmental attitude.

Whatever it may be, just understand two things. 1) It needs to be dealt with. You dare not let it go unchecked. And 2) remember that God takes the critical attitude seriously. He doesn't overlook it by saying, "Well, Michal was having hormonal issues, she'll feel better tomorrow." No, she was childless until the day of her death. He doesn't minimize the critical attitude by saying, "Miriam is really tired and has been stressed recently, she'll be more optimistic in another day or so." No, God struck her with leprosy and publicly chastised her. This is a serious matter in God's eyes.

And finally, let me challenge us to work together to deal with this matter. What I mean by that is, don't leave it up to your pastor to deal with critical attitudes! When somebody comes to you with that negative attitude and they haven't given any thought to a biblical or practical solution, would you stop them in their tracks? Remind them of what we talked about last week in spreading discord in the body. Remind them that they need to speak to the person who is the problem, or to the person who is a part of the solution to the problem. Another way you can help us work together on this is to get a copy of this message to those who weren't here last week or this morning. Now, do it in a gracious way. Don't hand the manuscript to them and say, "Here, you really need help with this. You're the most critical person I've ever met!" There are better ways to do it than that. But the idea is for all of us to get on board together with it so that we can be in a place where God will bless us.

The Danger of a Critical Spirit

The Danger of A Critical Spirit
Num. 11

Several weeks ago we were studying the issue of contentment. I shared with you that as humans we have a tendency toward being discontent. It is part of our old nature, and when you grow up privileged, as we Americans have, this can really be a problem. We defined contentment as “a heart that was satisfied with Jesus because we could acknowledge His sufficient care for us in every realm; physical, emotional and spiritual.” This truth is taught repeatedly in the Bible. In 2 Pt. 1:3 we read that God’s “divine power hath given unto us all things concerning life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” In Phil. 4:19 we read, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” In 1 Pt. 5:7 we read that we can cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. And the list goes on and on - contentment in this life is possible.

What I want to speak about this morning is on the other side of the coin, and that is the danger of a critical spirit. And just like this matter of discontent, a critical spirit comes to us naturally. We don't have to be taught how to gripe, do we? Your parents never sat you down and said, "Here's how to whine about the humidity." This ability comes to us at birth, so let’s start right in with a definition of a critical spirit. “A negative attitude that focuses on real or imagined faults with no thought toward a biblical or practical solution.” Let me repeat that. "A negative attitude that focuses on real or imagined faults, with no thought toward a biblical or practical solution."

There are several things I want to point out about this definition. First of all, note that a critical spirit isn’t limited to perceived problems. We can have a critical spirit about genuine, real problems. Another way of putting this is that the existence of an actual problem does not justify a critical spirit. For instance, we have a genuine problem with our church cleaning system. We used to pass a clip board but that can be disruptive, so we went to a voluntary signup sheet. But for a variety of reasons, no one was signing up. So the church either doesn’t get cleaned, or the same person cleans it week after week. So then we went back to sending the clip board around, but we usually only get one family per week to clean, which isn't optimal. This is an actual problem, not a perceived on. The church still does not get cleaned on some weekends. But just because this is a real problem doesn’t mean that we can harbor a critical spirit. We can't gripe about the leadership of the church, or the policies of the church, or anything else.

And this leads us to the second half of the definition. How do you know if your feelings about a situation are a critical spirit or “righteous indignation?” I mean, even Jesus himself got angry from time to time, right? It has to do with where you go with your feelings. This is what we see in the phrase, “with no thought toward a biblical / practical solution.” This is a critical distinction. A critical spirit focuses on the problem only! What separates griping / complaining / whining / critical spirit from legitimate concern is the presence of absence of a solution. So let me challenge you right here at the beginning of this message to learn how to evaluate your concerns and focus on solutions, not simply the airing of your grievances.

So with this introduction to a critical spirit, let’s go to the book of Numbers and look at an example of a critical spirit and God’s response to it. Let's read chapter 12 verses 1 - 16 together. What we are going to see in these verses are the effects of a critical spirit. Then, as we have time, we are going to go to some other Scriptures and look at the roots of a critical spirit, and finally we are going to see the cure for a critical spirit.

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman) 2 and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, 6 He said, “Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so, with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my household; 8 with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?” 9 So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 “Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” 13 And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” 15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. 16 Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

In these verses, we see at least four effects of a critical spirit, so what I want to show you this morning is how a critical spirit can affect Cornerstone Baptist Church.

First of all, in verses 1 - 3, we see that a critical spirit separates us from our fellow Christians. Because of the envy Aaron and Miriam had toward Moses (and this is something we are going to develop further next week), there was division now between these family members. What is the purpose of the family? Turn with me to Prov. 17:17 where we see the answer. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” That does not mean that brothers are born to fight with each other, it means that a family is supposed to be a cohesive unit so that when adversity comes, you aren’t facing it alone. These three siblings were the recognizable leaders of the nation. Moses and Aaron were a team, and Miriam was a prophetess, and now at this critical point in the history of the nation, the unity had been jeopardized. And had this division not been dealt with the consequences could have been disastrous. This is why Jesus said in Mt. 12:25 that “a house divided against itself will not stand.”

That is how a critical spirit works - it separates us from our fellow Christians. If you have a chronic critical spirit, nobody wants to be around you! You will find yourself becoming a very lonely person. From time to time you will find another critical spirit who will give you an ear, but generally speaking, nobody wants to hear it. Over the years I have met multiple people who have church all by themselves, in their living room, every Sunday morning. Why? Because their critical spirit has made it impossible for them to have any significant level of relationship with other Christians.

So the first effect of a critical spirit we see in these verses is that it separates us from our fellow Christians. The second effect is found in verses 4 – 9 where we see that a critical spirit separates us from fellowship with God. One of the things this passage alerts us to is that God is aware of a critical spirit. Did you catch that at the end of verse 2? “And the Lord heard it.” Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? Can you imagine how careful we would be in our conversations if God still worked this way today? God is the “unseen listener of every conversation,” and when He heard this critical spirit being expressed, He dealt with it strongly. Note especially in verse 9 where we read that the “anger of the Lord burned against them.” God was angry with them for their words about Moses.

When you are harboring a critical spirit, you can forget about having any kind of good relationship with God. Your fellowship with Him is gone, He isn’t going to be hearing and answering your prayers, He isn’t going to be communing with you through your Bible reading. The only thing you can expect in the relationship is to be “called out” (cf. vv. 4-5) and dealt with strongly. So in addition to a critical spirit affecting your relationship with other Christians, it also brings separation between you and God.

The third thing we see in this passage according to verses 10 - 15 is that a critical spirit brings serious consequences to the one practicing it. God struck Miriam with leprosy. This was a public, visible punishment. The entire nation was aware of it. It is similar to Paul’s advice to Timothy in 1 Tim. 5:20 that when you have a person in a place of leadership that continues in sin, he is to be “rebuked in the presence of all.” Why the public rebuke? “So that the rest also may be fearful of sinning.” That is the price of leadership, and as a leader in the nation, Miriam is publicly chastised by God.

This tells us that this matter is significant in God's eyes. It is no small thing to have a critical spirit! Please don’t dismiss these messages as “Murray is making mountains out of molehills again.” Let me share with you a very sobering passage from Proverbs. Turn with me to chapter 6, and let’s read verses 16 – 19. “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife (discord)among brothers.”

Proportionately, there aren’t too many things in the Bible that are labeled as abominations in God’s eyes, so when an activity gets that label, we ought to pay attention to it! Few things spread strife among the brethren more effectively than a critical spirit!

And finally, note in verses 15 - 16 that a critical spirit hurts the progress, of others. Verse 15 says that “the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again, and afterward, the people moved.” The entire nation of Israel had to sit there and wait until Miriam was done being disciplined by God before they could move on. For seven days, they were shut down and went no where. And what a sad reality it is that the entire nation, not just the guilty parties, suffered the consequences of Miriam and Aaron’s critical spirit.

So the four effects of a critical spirit are that a critical spirit separates us from our fellow Christians, it separates us from fellowship with God, it brings serious consequences to the one spreading the criticism, and a critical spirit hurts the progress of those around us. But what does all of this mean for us this morning? Let me give you several points of application.

• In a church setting, you are in the midst of sinful, selfish leaders; and sinful, selfish brothers and sisters in the Lord. Because of this reality, you aren’t going to have to look too hard to find problems. Some of them may be real problems, some of them may be perceived problems, but how are you going to deal with them? Are you going to harbor a critical spirit and spread dissension in the church, or are you going to deal with it in a biblical way?

• When you see a problem, deal with it the right way – don’t pull a Miriam and Aaron who spoke against the person they had the problem with. Let’s say that you don’t like how long I preach, or you don’t care for the music that Ray / Mary picks out for our choruses, or you think that some of the deacons are unqualified to be serving as deacons. How are you going to deal with problem? Well, keeping in mind our definition of a critical spirit let me give you two important reminders.

• There are only two people you can talk to in each of these situations: the person who has the problem (Murray, Ray / Mary, or the deacon), or a person who is a part of the solution to the problem. This is vital to keeping a critical spirit from spreading in the church. If you discuss your concern with anyone else in the church, and please hear me carefully here, you are demonstrating a critical spirit and spreading discord among the brethren, which God takes very seriously.

• The second thing to keep in mind is that what distinguishes a critical spirit and sowing discord from genuine concern is the presence or absence of a practical or biblical solution. Let me let you in on a little secret. I don’t need anyone telling me there are problems at Cornerstone Baptist Church. Do you know what I need? Proposed solutions. Do not talk to me about the sound system unless you are also prepared to talk with me about possible solutions. Make sense?

By way of conclusion, I want you to turn to Acts 20:28. Have you wondered why God dealt so severly with Miriam and Aaron? Or let me ask it this way. Was the punishment proportionate to the offense, or did God overreact (cf. how God dealt with the men making fun of Elisha)? The severity of the punishment tells us something. It tells us that God takes a critical spirit very seriously. Please understand that this is no small thing we are talking about this morning. And the reason He takes it so seriously is because of how precious the church is in His eyes. Look at the truth we see in Acts 20:28. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.” Think about this. This flawed church (your pastor, your deacons, your trustees, that person sitting next to you) that is so easy to have a critical spirit about is so precious in God’s estimation the God sent His Son Jesus to create it. And because of this, you don’t want to be found guilty of “messin’” with His church! Which is what a critical spirit does.

So let me leave you with this challenge this morning. If you have a problem with anything at Cornerstone Baptist Church, handle it in a way that is pleasing to God. The presence of problems is not a problem – that is a part of the human experience – how we handle them can be. We know how God feels about a critical spirit, and we know the effects of a critical spirit, so let’s each do our part in making sure we conduct ourselves in such a way as to generate God’s blessings on our church, not His judgment.