Matthew 7:1-6 says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

There is a spiritual disease afflicting many people – those who have this Critical Spirit are often called Complainaholics by pop-psychologists and Complain-kings (or queens) by the rest of us Singaporeans. And in this passage, Jesus commands the citizen of heaven not to be infected by it but to be cured of it.

He tells us not to be unrighteous judges (kritis in Greek). It is not to say we cannot judge – in fact, John 7:24 instructs us to judge righteously. But in this passage, we receive instruction from Jesus as to what kind of judgment we are barred from making. And it is this kind of judgment – the critical kind – that we are disallowed from making. And Jesus’ command is a tall order to keep.

The reason why it is so difficult is because we are all critical people by nature – some more than others. Romans 1 gives us a list of sins common to us that can be associated with a critical spirit – unrighteousness, contentiousness, deceitfulness, whispering, spite, lack of mercy, etc.

Personally, I have experienced this critical spirit festering in the deep recesses of my sinful heart – and nursing this sin simply brought misery to me. And I suppose that is why so many people are miserable – the more critical we are, the more miserable we become. And there are those amongst us who are chronically critical and thus constantly miserable.

In an episode of Pulse, the Emmy Award-winning health magazine show by the University of California at Davis Medical Center, Dr Robert Hales (also the chair of UC Davis’ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) said, "They found in long-term studies of both men and women that those who complain a lot and have a negativistic attitude toward life have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks actually before the age of 60, so clearly the life span of people who are angry complainers and negativistic is much shorter." It is a health risk to keep a critical spirit.

I am sure that no matter how stoic we are, we would have to admit in all honesty that we simply do not like to be around such people. And no matter how demure we are, we would also have to admit in all honesty that we are tempted to have such a critical spirit at times. So while we need to admonish those who are of a critical spirit in all gentleness and remove such contention which hinders the unity of the church, we must start especially with ourselves. But how do we diagnose it?

The first way to diagnose if we have Critical Spirititis is to evaluate our proneness for faultfinding. We see this in Mark 7:2, which describes the dissatisfaction of the Pharisees with Jesus’ disciples. "When they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault."

Their faultfinding was characterized by a zeal without knowledge. Like the religious moral police in many Middle Eastern countries, they went around holding the people to manmade standards of holiness, punishing them without any measure of kindness, and forgetting the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23).

The second way to diagnose Critical Spirititis in us is to evaluate our manner of speech. When the Pharisees found fault with the disciples, no matter how small, they always pointed it out (Mark 7:5). Jude 1:16 speaks of such who murmur, complain, and walk after their own lusts, their mouths speaking great swelling words.

John Gill, the Puritan, humorously describes their complaints to be done "secretly, inwardly, in a muttering way, grunting out their murmurs like swine…never being satisfied or [at ease]." But their complaints are not always quiet; sometimes they are great swelling words, characterized by high flights, rhetoric, and bombastic language, as John Gill puts it. Or as Matthew Henry put it, they speak "hard speeches of one another, especially ill-grounded [ones], [because they] are angry at everything that happens."

The third way to diagnose Critical Spirititis in a person is to evaluate the company they keep (or lack thereof). Since chronically contentious people are disliked, they will most likely often be avoided. And where a chronically contentious person is, there is likely to be strife. Proverbs 26:21 says, "As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife." It is not incorrect to say that those who are chronic critics are usually always in a disagreement with someone.

Do we tend to find fault with others? Do we tend to murmur (no matter how softly) or often spew diatribe? Do people avoid us? Do we always seem to be in conflict with someone? These are some symptoms of Critical Spirititis.

But one thing that we chronic critics can look forward to and hope in is the fact that the probability of recovery is 100% (provided we are truly born again)! Scriptures tell us that we have victory over ourselves and over death. 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

And the same resurrection power that Christ had is ours – through his power, we can change and become holier. 2 Peter 1:3 says, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." And we can change through Christ’s strength. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

In order to be cured of Critical Spirititis, we are to stop judging unrighteously, according to our own standards. If we judge in this manner, we will also be judged accordingly. The reasons for this are simple. Firstly, when we judge based on our own standards, we make ourselves like God – that’s idolatry of the worst kind. God will judge us. Secondly, if we are intolerable, judgmental and critical, then people will be inclined to treat us in like manner. This is their judgment on us.

But we are cured when we find ourselves judging according to God’s standards. Our critical spirit will be replaced by a gentle spirit, and while we will still acknowledge the wrong, we will display mercy and compassion. Galatians 6:1 speaks of this correct judgment: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." This kind of judgment is not critical but loving – done for the purpose of restoration. This is extremely hard to do.

In order to be cured of Critical Spirititis, we need to apply God’s standards firstly to ourselves. Christ instructs us to deal with the glaring problems in our lives first, only then will we see clearly to help another. Jesus’ use of the mote and the beam is not only humorous, but it has more truth than what we often give it credit.

A person with a beam in his eye would technically not be able to see anything – but he does!! And he sees very clearly to the extent that he can even point out the speck in another person’s eye. But if he were to help the other person, the beam in his eye would be a hindrance – just imagine a surgeon trying to operate if he had a 6 ft pole sticking out of his head!

So it tells us that those of a critical spirit are able with great precision and propensity to point out the sins of others, even though he is struggling with the same sin. And that is true, is it not? We can see exactly the same sin in another person that we are not willing to acknowledge in ourselves. We make accusations of sin in others, when what is so glaringly obvious in our lives is not dealt with. And what is also true is that when we try to point out the sin in others, our sins get in the way – and we just mess up everything!

That is why we need to deal seriously with our own sins and critical attitudes – they just get in the way of true gentle judgment. And when we get rid of them, our judgments and assistance of others improve, being filled with all patience and charity.

There are some who have persistent Critical Spirititis. It is not to say that they cannot be cured, provided they are Christians, but there are those who persistently reject cure. There are two reasons for this – one observational and the other spiritual. Behaviorists talk about "socio-affective recognition addicts" – those who may complain for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves as they want to feel appreciated or valued. Then there are those who are so blinded by their pride that they cannot see the ravages of the disease in their lives.

Christ instructed that if we are to evaluate wisely, we will realize that some will not want to be corrected. That’s why he instructed that we ought not to give that which is holy to dogs or cast pearls before swine. The dogs referred to here are not pet dogs but pack dogs which roamed the cities of the ancient world devouring and killing. Pigs, of course, cannot appreciate the beauty and value of pearls.

What we are told by Christ here is that not everyone is grateful when cure is offered to them. They can react quite negatively. That is why we need to leave certain people alone. Proverbs 9:8 says, "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." And other times, we just have to avoid them completely, perhaps removing them from our midst for the sake of the church. Proverbs 22:10 says, "Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease."

Indeed, there might be those who are persistently critical and do not want help and the best thing is to withhold help from them. It might sound brutal, but it is actually an act of love to them. And that is part of the therapy for them. Muscles which are so tensed up and cannot relax may need an external pressure source (such as a massage) to loosen them. Likewise, persistent critics may need the discipline of God and not the company of saints as a cure.

I have often found myself having a critical spirit – mostly due to the lack of mercy. But I thank God for the gentle and meek curative efforts of my brethren. If not for them and if not for me relaxing my neck and submitting to God, I would be most miserable and a source of irritation for others too. I would have few friends, complaining about my lot in life, lashing out at those who tried to care, and would generally be an unpleasant person.

But with Christ as our physician, all things are possible. May he lead us in diagnosing this spiritual disease in us, and help us in our cure as we submit to him. —MC

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).