[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fmean-spirited-christians":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fmean-spirited-christians-surround":61},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":43,"date":44,"description":17,"extension":45,"image":46,"meta":47,"minRead":48,"navigation":49,"path":50,"postType":51,"publication":52,"publicationUrl":46,"seo":53,"stem":54,"topics":55,"__hash__":60},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fmean-spirited-christians.md","Mean-Spirited Christians",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Matthew","Galatians",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":39},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33,36],[15,16,17],"p",{},"There's a place for righteous indignation in the Christian life. Even God expresses anger. He loves us with tough love, not the passive permissiveness of an overindulgent parent.",[15,19,20],{},"John the Baptist denounced sin in no uncertain terms, and ended up imprisoned and beheaded. Jesus pulled no punches when he rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees, comparing them to \"snakes\" and a \"brood of vipers\" (Matthew 23:33). He created storms of criticism when he cast the money changers out of the temple, and he glared angrily at stubborn legalists who would rather cling to their Sabbath customs than see a crippled man healed (Mark 3:1-6). The prophet Nathan bravely confronted David about the king's adultery (2 Samuel 12:1-14). The apostle Paul initiated a tense face-to-face confrontation with Simon Peter, who had refused to associate with Gentile believers (Galatians 2:11-14). There's a time and place for strong words and direct correction of error.",[15,22,23],{},"But Scripture also tells about bad critics. There was Korah, who opposed God's appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16:1-32). There were the disrespectful young men who mocked Elisha and made fun of the prophet's bald head (2 Kings 2:23-25). There were Sanballat and Tobiah, who ridiculed the wall Nehemiah's men were building around Jerusalem, saying \"if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones\" (Nehemiah 4:1-3).",[15,25,26],{},"The Sadducees dreamed up complicated hypothetical questions, while disbelieving basic truths like the resurrection of the dead. The hypercritical Pharisees badmouthed Jesus for eating with tax collectors and \"sinners.\" They misunderstood Jesus' mission, misjudged his compassion for lost people, and overestimated their own righteousness. Meanwhile, they didn't even have the courage to come directly to Jesus himself, but muttered their complaint to Jesus' disciples somewhere in a side room (Matthew 9:11).",[15,28,29],{},"In the Lord's church, we need prophetic voices that speak hard truths, but we don't need nastiness. We don't need quarrelsome elders (forbidden by 1 Timothy 3:3), power-hungry leaders who push people around (like Diotrephes in 3 John 9, 10), or contentious church members who thrive on creating controversy instead of doing God's work (see 1 Timothy 1:3-7). The church needs more praying and less pot-stirring. Jesus' prescription for conflict resolution calls for face-to-face communication (Matthew 18:15-17), not gossip, anonymous letters, rumors, and character assassination.",[15,31,32],{},"Mean-spirited Christians have not learned to restore their erring brothers and sisters with a firm but gentle spirit of reconciliation (Galatians 6:1). Instead of saying, \"I disagree with your opinion\u002Fidea\u002Fpolicy\u002Faction and here's why,\" they say, \"Because you hold that opinion you are obviously a sinner\u002Fjerk\u002Ffool\u002Fwolf in sheep's clothing.\" Mean-spirited Christians cannibalize the body of Christ! \"If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other\" (Galatians 5:15). There's a better alternative: \"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other\" (Galatians 5:25, 26).",[15,34,35],{},"Many words describe Jesus. Righteous. Gracious. Truthful. Bold. Able to mingle holy anger with unselfish love. But there's one word I could never use to describe the Lord.",[15,37,38],{},"He was never mean.",{"title":40,"searchDepth":41,"depth":41,"links":42},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","2001-03-25","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fmean-spirited-christians","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fmean-spirited-christians",[56,57,58,59],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Christian Unity","Holy Week and Resurrection","Xs_e4mMK-XE0oXy61IdhQUXmLy-Vyx_m4PM3QfhPYYE",[62,67],{"title":63,"path":64,"stem":65,"description":66,"children":-1},"Me-ology","\u002Farticles\u002Fme-ology","articles\u002Fme-ology","Most of the cultural ills that afflict us today could be cured by better theology and less “me-ology.”",{"title":68,"path":69,"stem":70,"description":68,"children":-1},"Melinda's File Folder","\u002Farticles\u002Fmelinda-s-file-folder","articles\u002Fmelinda-s-file-folder"]