Censorious Thoughts, 3

Edwards has me nailed!  This new word, censoriousness, certainly shows me that my heart is active and not neutral in how I see others.  That is what I want to reflect on today -- my heart colors everything and interprets it according to its state before God.

Edwards notes that a censorious heart is quick to judge evil of others.  Her breaks this up as follows:

1. It is quick to "know" what is "really going on" -- to act and think like we know what is happening in private that shows how selfish this person really is. It is a spirit of suspicion and one that is fairly common in our therapeutic culture.
2. It is quick to tell others our perspective on someone else.  I am quick to speak ill and to listen to ill of others.  "it seems to be pleasing to them to hear evil of others."
3. It is quick to put the worst construction on someone else's actions.  This usually means we "know their motives" and find hypocrisy in all their virtue.

I read these and find they all reflect my heart condition.  But why is the question -- why would I live out these qualities?  I think the answer lies in my competition with others for the place of worship in the universe.  My pride hates all competitors and wants to undermine the apparent good others do by creating suspicion for their motives. I love to hear my competitors have failed.  I resent their successes. 

Walker Percy in his excellent book, Lost in the Cosmos, has some excellent thoughts on the self and our sense of self.  While he is not Jonathan Edwards, he has a sharp insight into our self-obsession and self-focus and shows how empty it all is.  He speaks so clearly of our resentment at others successes and how very hard it is to enjoy the news of their prosperity. 

Here is a test I use for myself: am I quick to believe bad news about others?  Do I enjoy telling bad news?  ("Did you hear Pastor so and so has left the ministry?"  "Did you hear X divorced Y?")  If someone were to record all my words about the people I serve or the church I lead, would they come out as critical?  Would there be a lot of "he doesn't get it" and "she has some areas she needs to grow in."?  Or would they hear words of gratefulness for the grace that is evident in the lives of others?

As a young man I was so proud that I saw nothing my elders did that was not worthy of criticism -- they were not biblical enough, radical enough, clear enough, firm enough.  Or they were too clear, too certain, not faithful to the text, too dogmatic.  There was not one area of church life I did not grasp so perfectly (after 3 years of study) that I could not pronounce on it!  That is something worse than pride.  The fact that I was far more aware of sin than of grace speaks of that pride.

I have some pet peeves and these are areas of pride as well.  I can smell fundamentalism from a hundred yards and when I do, all the critical faculties of my mind are stirred and I go after it tooth and nail.  So I proudly critique the proud critques of others!

How unlike my Lord I am.  First, he is omniscient so he has no need to conjecture.  Second, he looked with hope on his disciples and saw what he was doing in them and would continue to do.  How full of encouragement the NT is.  The Gospel filter enables me to see others with hope for what God will do in their lives and with amazement at grace that is already present.

Comments

[Lukas]

Mark,
Thank you for this series on Censorious Thoughts. Do you have any thoughts for the person who is the object of censorious thoughts?

L