I Corinthians 9:13

- tonight we're continuing our study of I Cor. 9
- let me remind you again of the chart we used to illustrate
the way these verses fit into the overall context
- (see if the folks can fill in the blanks)

- inner box - (verses 4-14) - How to treat Christian servants
financially)
- outer box (chaps 8-10) - Christian liberty
- (overshadowing cloud - verses 1-3) - questioning Paul's
apostleship

- I'd like to take our time tonight and talk about this
"overshadowing cloud" of people questioning Paul's
apostleship because I think there are very important
points we need to make

- Lord willing, on S. night, we'll move in and talk about how
Paul takes what we discussed last week and applies it to
the subject of Christian liberty
- but tonight, let's concentrate on verses 1-3
- READ 1-3

- Now, in light of these verses, let's think about this
question:
- why would the subject of Paul's apostleship come up in
a discussion of how a church treats full-time Christian
servants financially (and what can we learn from the
fact that it did come up)

- in order to answer that question, we've got to "tip-our-
hand" a little bit on what we'll be talking about S. night

- the argument of this chapter is this

- Paul has laid out the church's responsibilities in the
way we treat full time Christian servants
- but what he's going to say in the verses we'll study S.
night is: -"but, I have chosen to exercise my freedom not
to accept those funds" (that’s how it fits in with
Christian liberty)

- that's fine and good - but, there were some folks in the
church at Corinth who were saying, "the fact that Paul
won't take a salary proves he's not really an apostle"

- that’s the subject we're talking about tonight - "learning
to handle criticism God's way"
- criticism - "the act of finding fault, censure,
disapproval"
- we'll talk later about justified criticism and
unjustified criticism

- but right now we want to point out - that's what this
broader circle "set up" by verses 1-3 is all about
- Paul's being criticized here

- now, all through the message, we'll being "weaving in"
several different avenues of application concerning
criticism
- times someone criticizes you personally about
something to your face
- times someone criticizes you behind your back
- times you hear (or overhear) criticism about a friend,
loved one, your church

- but the question is - in each of these situations, how
does the Lord want us to respond

I. It's Going To Come

- these verses ought to remind us that criticism, in the
various forms, is going to come
- we have to be prepared to respond biblically because
it's only a matter of time before we're going to be
called upon to respond to one of these kinds of
situations in a way that pleases the Lord
- how do we know that?

A. Paul faced it

- here's the great church planter
- here's the greatest missionary that every lived
- here's the man that was miraculously saved on the
Damascus road
- ...man that was used of God to write a significant
portion of the New Testament
- the Apostle Paul - not a perfect man, but surely
someone greatly used by the Lord
- and here he is - being criticized
- not in some shallow, superficial way, either

- these people are undermining his entire ministry
- they're saying he's a Charlaton, fake, imposter

- they couldn't attack Paul much worse than they're
doing

- the point is - if a man like Paul wasn't immune to
this problem, you and I aren't either

B. John

- John faced the same thing
- In fact, he named a man like this by name in the
book of III John.
- INPUT - do you remember that man's name? (Diotrophes
- "who loves to have the "pre-eminence."
- went around the church criticizing John for
showing hospitality to traveling missionaries
and other Christians

- here's the man we know as the "apostle of love"
- he could rightly refer to himself as "the disciple
that Jesus loved" and everybody knew who he was
talking about

- and even at the end of his life and the end of his
ministry, here's a guy running around the church,
and in John's words:
"prating against us with malicious words, and
not content with that, neither doth he himself
receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that
would, and casteth them out of the church."

- the apostle Paul faced it, the apostle John faced

C. Our Lord faced it

- In Matthew 12, the Lord is healing people on the
Sabbath day

- do you remember what the Pharisees said about Him
in that chapter?
- (Matt. 12:24 - This man casts out demons only by
Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.)

- so people criticized the apostle Paul, the apostle
John, even our Lord

- criticism is going to come!

- one of the points we need to make about that is:
- we ought not to be shocked or blown out of the
water when that happens

- some are not able to handle these kinds of
situations in a way that pleases the Lord
because they're not at all prepared
- they haven't considered the fact that criticism
will come

- so when it's directed at them - they're in a
state of shock - they're not at all prepared to
handle it biblically
- or when they hear it about someone else -
they're shocked - and often times just freeze -
not knowing what the Lord would have them to do

- and we're saying - there's something wrong if criticism
shocks us
- cf. the person who looks in the mirror and screams (ah!
there's a nose on my face!)

- so, criticism is going to come
- now what can we do to handle it?
- one question we need to ask pretty quickly is:

II. Ask, Should I Have Heard That?

INPUT - what determines whether or not I should listen to
criticism?

A. The determining factor

- If the criticism is about me or if I am part of the
solution

- INPUT - if the criticism is not about me, what should I do?

A. If not...

Whoaa...

illus -
- one of our pastors talks really loud
- counseling rooms have heavy walls and doors, but
when someone gets really loud, you can hear
them
- Monday night - Whoaa!
- looked at my counselee, laughed
- said - "if you think its bad in here, how would
you like to be in there with that nut?"

- there are times when this can't be done
-
1) - I know of a situation where a man was innocently
eating his lunch in a restaurant
--some people at another table were talking loudly
about a church they were upset with
- couldn't help but overhearing
- a moment later -he realized they were talking about
his church

2) sometimes, the person making the criticism has had it
printed somewhere

3) at other times - they might just be saying it publicly
for everyone to hear

- so ideally, if we're not part of the solution, we ought
to stop the conversation
- otherwise it's gossip

- in those situations where we just mentioned, where
perhaps you couldn't help but overhear for whatever
reason

- a great question to ask is:

- Have you talked to that person directly and
individually about the area you're criticizing them
about?
- Do you what the answer to that question is in the
vast majority of cases?

- no!

- when that happens - you can mark two things down

1) you're talking to an ungodly person.
- regardless of how spiritual they "couch"
it
- regardless of what else they've said or
done
- they're behaving in an ungodly fashion
because they're violating what passages
like Matt. 18:15 - because we're always
supposed to go privately and speak to a
person directly
2) anything they've said ought to be considered
unreliable.

- just because someone says something doesn't
make it so.
- we ought not to be the kind of people who
believe everything we hear
- when that person is communicating in an
unbiblical method, you can assume that the
content of that conversation is suspect as well

B. If so

- listen, and follow the principles below

III. Determine Whether It's Justified or Unjustified

- natural question here is - how do I know?

- a good rule of thumb is - If it's about me, I need to
assume it's at least partially true until I have facts
to prove otherwise
- if it's about someone else, I need to assume it's false
unless I have facts to prove otherwise

- INPUT - can you think of a Bible passage that goes
along with each "half" of that statement
Why, if its about me, do I need to assume its at
least partially true until I've carefully thought
it through? (learner - I John 1, Matt. 7:3)

Why, if its about someone else (and I overhear it)
should I assume it's false unless I have clear
facts? (I Cor. 13 - love gives the benefit of
the doubt)

- (repeat point) clearly, in the Bible, there's examples of
each type

INPUT - can you think of a biblical example of justified
criticism?

A. Justified

(when its justified, it's probably best to refer to
that as confrontation - where someone loves a person
enough to speak to them about an area of sinfulness)

1. Paul to Peter

Gal. 2:11 - "But when Peter was come to Antioch,
I withstood him to the face, because he was to
be blamed."

2. Nathan to David

II Sam. 12:7 - "Thou art the man"

INPUT - when the criticism is directed at you and its
justified, what do you and I need to do? (confess,
repent, thank the Lord for sending the person, thank
the person)

INPUT - what if the person comes in a less than perfect
way - does that change the answers any?

- perhaps a good question to ask here is - do you handle
justified confrontation in a way that pleases the Lord?

- Prov. 13:1 - A wise son heareth his father's
instruction, but a scorner heareth not rebuke
- 15:5 - A fool despiseth his father's instruction, but
he that regardeth reproof is prudent

- now that's justified criticism

- let's talk about unjustified

B. Unjustified

- all three examples we mentioned earlier in the
message are cases of unjustified criticism

1. biblical examples

a. Paul

- Acts 1:21-22 says that an apostle had to be a
person who had walked with the Lord, had seen
the resurrected Lord
- II Cor. 12:12 adds that an apostle's ministry
had to be verified by signs and miracles
- Paul met those qualifications

- so the criticism that he wasn't an apostle was
unjustified

b. John

III John - verse 11 - "follow not that which is
evil...He that doeth good is of God, but he
that doeth evil hath not seen God."

c. Our Lord

- of course it goes without saying that the
Pharisee's criticism of our Lord was unjustified
- Heb. 4:15 - "...was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin."

- so clearly there are a number of examples in the Bible of
unjust criticism
- what steps do you take in those cases?

2. what steps should be taken?

- the exact answer to that depends on the
situation:

a. if it's about you
1) look for the "nugget" of truth

Matt. 7:3 - tells us to be log inspectors

- often times when someone is criticizing
us, even if its overstated or said in an
unloving way
- often there's some "nuggets" of
truth we need to focus on

2) if not, see IV B

- if there's absolutely no nugget, if that
criticism is totally unfounded, we'll
talk about what steps to take from there
under point 4

b. if it's about someone else

1) again - don't be shocked

- if its an individual or church that believes the
Bible - there are going to be a few folks out
there who don't like you

- that doesn't happen, but there are times when
folks from the community or even someone from the
church gets upset about a stand we've taken on
the Scripture

- we're not issues oriented - we don't go around
looking for fights
- but when we come up on the subject of
homosexuality, we're going to preach and teach
what the Bible has to say about that
- when the Bible discusses a topic related to
abortion - we're going to talk about it
- when the Bible talks about immorality or
sexual sin, you would want us to talk about it
as forcefully as the Bible does

- point is - over a period of time - a few folks
might get upset - and they may "vent" that anger
in any number of unbiblical, unjustified,
critical modes

2) The Lord hates this sin.

Prov. 6:16-19 gives a list of seven
things the Lord hates.
- the last one in the list is this one:
- the person that sows discord among the
brethren.
- that’s what the people attacking Paul were
doing.

3) Remember, these folks often twist or
distort the facts

- that’s what's happening in these verses
- Paul is exercising his right to not take a
salary and these folks are so divisive
that they're going to actually try to use
it against him.

4) if possible, get the "criticizer" together
with the "criticizee."

- of course, if this is in the context of
a local church where both folks are
members-then they would have to get
together and work matters out.
- but even if the criticizer isn't a
member of the church - it would be great
if that person would personally contact
the one they're criticizing and try to
talk things out

- two other passages that are important to bring in at this
point are Prov. 26:4 and Prov. 26:5

- READ

- the point is:

IV. Determine If This Is A Matter The Lord Wants "Answered"

- in situations where church members are involved, they
have to communicate and get things solved
- but in situations where someone from outside the church
is making the criticism, there are biblical examples
where the person speaks up and others where the person
holds their tongue

A. Sometimes, its best to say nothing

Isa 53:7 - He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not his mouth.

cf. Prov. 26:4

B. At others times, an answer is necessary and helpful

I Cor. 9:4

cf. Prov. 26:5