The Cross and Criticism

If you read through Matthew 7:1-6 (see previous post), you most likely will be familiar with the instruction not to judge. Yet it is less commonly recognized that Jesus, in these verses taken as a group, assumes that we may need to do some kind of negative assessment of others. So what's the right way to do this?

Justin Taylor provides a synopsis of an article titled "The Cross and Criticism" by Alfred Poirier, a pastor and chairman of Peacemakers, that helps to answer this question. I am reproducing his summary below, but you can read the full article here.

Definition:
I'm using criticism in a broad sense as referring to any judgment made about you by another, which declares that you fall short of a particular standard. The standard may be God's or man's. The judgment may be true or false. It may be given gently with a view to correction, or harshly and in a condemnatory fashion. It may be given by a friend or by an enemy. But whatever the case, it is a judgment or criticism about you, that you have fallen short of a standard.

Key Point:
"A believer is one who identifies with all that God affirms and condemns in Christ's crucifixion."

In other words, in Christ's cross I agree with God's judgment of me and I agree with God's justification of me. Both have a radical impact on how we take and give criticism.

Application:
Critique yourself.
Ask the Lord to give you a desire to be wise instead of a fool.
Focus on your crucifixion with Christ.
Learn to speak nourishing words to others.

How to give criticism in a godly way:
I see my brother/sister as one for whom Christ died (1 Cor. 8:11; Heb. 13:1)
I come as an equal, who also is a sinner (Rom. 3:9, 23).
I prepare my heart lest I speak out of wrong motives (Prov. 16:2; 15:28; 16:23).
I examine my own life and confess my sin first (Matt. 7:3-5).
I am always patient, in it for the long haul (Eph. 4:2; 1 Cor. 13:4).
My goal is not to condemn by debating points, but to build up through constructive criticism (Eph. 4:29).
I correct and rebuke my brother gently, in the hope that God will grant him the grace of repentance even as I myself repent only through His grace (2 Tim. 2:24-25).