Cross and criticism
March 23, 2010
Few things in life are more difficult to handle rightly than criticism. How hard it is to speak and to respond in a gospel-centered way. As a pastor, I am a frequent recipient of criticism–the constructive and the destructive, the accurate, the half-true, and the utterly false, the well-timed and the ill-timed, the gracious and the malicious–I have learned that how I respond reveals a lot about me. What do I do with my critics? Do I shrink them in my field of vision so that I no longer acknowledge them, regard them, pay any attention to them, share with them, or regard them as part of the family? Or do I inflate them in my field of vision so that I brood over their words and think about them constantly, see them as larger than they really are, give them control over my feelings and decisions, or allow them to lead me around like a bull with a ring in his nose?
I commend to you Alfred J. Poirier’s “The Cross and Criticism,” which appeared in the Spring, 1999, issue of The Journal of Biblical Counseling. Here’s an excerpt:
In light of God’s judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God’s criticism of me in Christ’s cross, I can face any criticism man may lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has. And the most devastating criticism turns out to be the finest mercy. If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness, defensiveness, or blameshifting. Such responses typically exacerbate and intensify conflict, and lead to the rupture of relationships. You can learn to hear criticism as constructive and not condemnatory because God has justified you.
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? (Rom. 8:33-34a).
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it (Ps. 141:5).
Jesus is pure; his bride wasn’t
March 10, 2010
Russell Moore gives a gospel-saturated answer to a young woman asking about what she has a right to know about her boyfriend’s sexual past and when she has a right to know it. Take and read.
Also read Jeremiah 3.
Singing orca
March 2, 2010
This is from the blog of Scotty Smith, Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship at Christ Community Church (PCA) in Franklin, Tennessee:
A Prayer About the Day of Singing OrcaThen I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13Dear Lord Jesus, I cannot imagine the horror and trauma of those who witnessed the death of an Orca trainer yesterday at Sea World. We pray, especially for the children who were present… bring your healing hand and loving heart to bear. By whatever means you choose, we pray for your redeeming presence in this tragedy.Jesus, gut-numbing events like this fuel my intense longing for the Day when “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them,” will sing your praise forever in the new heaven and new earth. What Isaiah whispered (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:17-25) and John envisioned (Revelation 21:1-5), we will enjoy with them—this very world redeemed and restored by you, Lord Jesus—the one who is making all things new.The very fact that Orca are better known as “Killer Whales” just underscores the fact that nothing in this broken world is the way it’s meant to be. Orca were meant to sing and play, not attack and devour. The odious stench of sin, decay and death permeate every sphere of your creation. In fact, it’s far more incomprehensible to realize that over half of the world’s families exist for a whole month on the price of one Sea World ticket. Have mercy, Lord Jesus, have mercy… I know that you have, and I know that you will….Until the Day of the pan-creature praise chorus, give us, give me, all the grace and strength we need to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God. So very Amen, we pray, offering all praise, honor, glory and power, to him who sits on the throne and to you, the Lamb of God.
Justin Taylor’s blog reminded me that yesterday marked 29 years since the death of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the best and most influential preachers of the 20th century. I first encountered the preaching of Dr. Lloyd-Jones through college friend Brian Habig, who had to wait a ridiculously long time for a Starkville Christian bookstore to receive a special order copy of the Banner of Truth paperback of Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ Evangelistic Sermons. I borrowed the book, read one sermon, returned it, and bought my own copy the next weekend in Jackson off the shelf of the RTS bookstore. During my last two years in college and the next couple of years after I devoured a number of volumes of his sermons (on Romans, Ephesians, on the Holy Spirit, on spiritual depression), the collection of lectures entitled The Puritans: Their Origins and Their Successors, and listened to recordings I borrowed from the Mount Olive Tape Library.
Below is a good ten-minute overview of his life and ministry:
For biographies, see the following from Iain Murray, his official biographer and former assistant:
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years 1899-1939
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Fight of Faith 1939-1981
- Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace
You can hear The Doctor preach online for free at Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust.
