Too willing to praise

As Christians, we try really hard to ensure that we do not hurt someone's feelings or make someone feel like they are important and gifted. This is a good thing. On the Worship Development Team, we have a sort of team Scripture. It is as follows...

My purpose is that they be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:2-3)

I think this is a good purpose statement for a group to have. Allow me to list a few conceptions about Christianity and the behavior of Christians. They may not all be from the Scriptures but few would argue that they are good virtues of a Christian.

1 - Treat others as you wish to be treated.
2 - If you don't have anything good to say...don't say anything at all.
3 - Love one another.
4 - Encourage one another.
5 - Share in others' struggles.
6 - Be respectful.
7 - Be kind.

I stopped the list at seven because of the implications of perfection. Also, because I knew that I could go on for quite some time but I think seven of them get the idea across.

As Christians we try very hard to accomplish these things. When someone gives their testimony, preaches, sings, prays, or does any other act of service, we give encouragement and support. If we didn't, then we often feel as though we have not succeeded at the seven (and many others) items listed above.

The other side of this issue is criticism. We, as Christians, do not want to be critical of our fellow believers. When they are finished, let's say preaching, we encourage them and praise them for a good message. We make them feel good. The last thing we want to do is be critical and make them feel inadequate. Many times, we see cases of people being too critical which is contrary to what we believe we should be doing. One case takes place on Asbury campus every day. All I have to do is say the name Joel Osteen and criticism will happen. We criticize him, people criticism Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, and pretty much anyone who preaches on TV.

My point is, regardless as to whether or not any of these people should be criticized, there are times that we go too far. However, I believe that we, much more than we know, go too far with encouragement and praise. Let me say that again...I think we are too quick to praise someone for a job well done.

I believe that at many times our ambition to be good Christians and encourage and praise blinds us to reality. Maybe what that person preached was heresy or horrible theology or against what the church is about. In this case, when we praise them and encourage them, we are only adding fuel to the poor teaching.

If we get right down to it accomplishing the seven goals that I laid out above may look different than we think. Maybe, if the teaching and/or preaching was bad...we should tell them. Consider this:

1 - Treat others as you wish to be treated.
-If I am wrong...I want you to tell me because I desire to be right about this faith.
2 - If you don't have anything good to say...don't say anything at all.
-The question is...who is it good for. If it is good...then it will lead me to a better relationship with Christ because I will have a chance to correct my mistakes. Besides, shouldn't we worry about what is good for the Kingdom rather than what is good for me?
3 - Love one another.
-When you truly love one another you can voice these things. Did you read my last post? It read, "The fear of conflict breeds false harmony." If you are afraid to approach me, then the "harmony" that we have is false. I want real harmony.
4 - Encourage one another.
-If you showed me how to correct my mistakes, I would be encouraged for next time. You can be encouraging and still be honest.
5 - Share in others' struggles.
-Obviously, if I was off-base, I will be struggling. Walk that road with me.
6 - Be respectful.
-If you respected me, expressing your concerns would be respectful.
7 - Be kind.
-The right thing, and kind thing, to do would be to tell me.

There is a lot of overlap within the seven listed above. In case, you don't like my perspective...let's look at what Proverbs has to say within its wisdom.

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. (Proverbs 27:5)
He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. (Proverbs 28:23)

Do I have a point in all of this. Maybe. We must keep our eyes open. All too many times we hear or see something that is wrong and we do and say nothing. Maybe we simply choose not to act...maybe we don't realize the wrongness...maybe we are simply blinded with our drive to encourage and praise that we fail to evaluate and scrutinize what we heard or saw.

To encourage does not mean to praise and lift up. It does not mean to overlook negatives and only stress positives. As a Christian...sometimes encouragement means taking that difficult step and speaking out in some fashion for the gospel. And sometimes, just sometimes, that means rebuking another person.

Being able to rebuke openly and honestly will breed true harmony. And nothing sounds better than true harmony.