Thought for Thursday
And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. Mark 7:2
The Pharisees who were complaining about Jesus’ disciples would fit right in with most of us today. Finding fault is a favourite pastime of many. There is just so much to criticize about those around us. They wear the wrong clothes, they talk too loud (or not loud enough), they walk too slow (or too fast), they comb their hair on the wrong side, they drive the wrong kind of car, they buy the wrong things at the grocery store, they eat with the wrong utensil, they sit the wrong way on the chair. Actually, the Pharisees had a much more serious issue to find fault with: they had created a long list of rules, and the disciples were not following those rules to the letter. That was pretty serious, they thought. There has to be something wrong with those who don’t do things my way!
Are there fault-finders in your Assembly? More importantly, are you one of them? Look around the circle into the faces of your brothers and sisters in the Lord and ask yourself what fault you have found with them in the past few weeks. What little – or big – thing does that person do that bugs you, that annoys you, that you find irritating, that doesn’t fit in with what we’d like to see around here? Finding fault is easy. And most of the time, it’s wrong!
The Lord Jesus squelched the Pharisees by reminding them that they were those of whom Isaiah spoke when he wrote of those who honoured God with their lips but not their hearts. If people don’t act just exactly the way we think they should, we need to check whether the problem is with their heart, or with our own. After all, that brother who annoys you because he sings too loudly off-key just might be making melody in his heart that the Lord hears much more clearly than your grumbles. There is a reason why people do the things they do… and if someone is doing something with which you find fault, make sure you know what the reason is before you criticize.
Instead of finding fault with a fellow saint, thank the Lord for something that you appreciate about that person. Suddenly, their fault will be a little harder to find. -Jim MacIntosh