Faultfinding is easy work. Those who set
out to find fault with their fellowman will never be disappointed. These
can easily establish their own arbitrary standards and then judge the
actions of others according to them. Arbitrary standards can be established
either before or after the other person acts. Such rules are, by their
nature, portable and easily exchanged for other arbitrary decrees. They can
be completely inconsistent with each other and yet remain in the same
carrying case. The arbitrary judge carries with him ammunition for any side
of any battle.
After he decides to either attack or defend
he can select the arbitrary standards that work in his favor and apply them
to his advantage. He can justify any evil and vilify any good by the
skillful application of his homemade rules. He can paint matters that are
morally neutral with the black brush of contempt or with the pure white
brush of virtue at his own choosing. His arbitrary judgments, though, are
condemned by God.
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For
with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same 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 out of 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 out of
your brother's eye"
(Matthew 7:1-5).
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good
evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own
eyes, And prudent in their own sight!"
(Isaiah 5:20, 21).
Jesus and John the Baptist were both
plagued with arbitrary judges who were able to use their changeable rules to
find fault with opposite behaviors!
"But to what shall I liken this
generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to
their companions, and saying: 'We played the flute for you, And you did not
dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.' For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came
eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a gluttonous man and a winebibber,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her
children" (Matthew 11:16-19).
Learn to ignore such critics unless you are
able to find something valuable in what they have to suggest. If such men
are numbered among your "friends" you will want to keep an eye on the
relationships and avoid having them take your "side" in any dispute. Their
syllogisms are slippery, their logic is leaky, and their reasons are
unreliable. Their "assistance" will sabotage the cause of truth every time
and your association with them will rob you of your influence for good.
God's standards are revealed, fixed, and
unchanging. He has defined right and wrong. He has revealed what is good
and evil and He has placed His standards in an inspired volume for all to
read. His children are those who have discarded their own notions about
what they, and others, ought to believe and do, -- and they have replaced
them with God's. When they apply what God has revealed to men's lives
(first to their own, and then to others) they "judge with righteous
judgment" (John
7:24). They apply God's wisdom and
not their own. They see and know what God has given them the standards to
judge (Matthew
7:15-20).
Learn to listen to all that God's word has
to say concerning your life and conduct. Those who can and will show you
your errors according to God's standards are your friends and ought to be
treasured as such. Those who know God's standards and who will not show you
your errors according to God's word cannot reasonably be considered your
friends or God's servants.
