I’ve noticed that I have a tendency toward a corrective bent in my teachings and studies, even in articles that don’t come across as correcting the reader. If I hear something that I think is Biblically wrong, particularly in a church setting, I want to then pick it apart, present a counter argument, and fix the mistake. A lot of my blog posts grew out of this tendency. My extensively researched post on agape started as irritation at someone in a sermon quoting an (inaccurate) AI-generated historical definition rather than doing actual research. My most recent post on women’s roles in the church was sparked by a social media post. And those are just two examples.
While this desire to correct mistakes has prompted some good studies, I’m starting to think that it’s not always a good tendency. I catch myself looking for mistakes, then getting upset about them and wanting to correct them. Did you notice that speaker only quoted half the verse, presumably because the second half would have undermined his point? Or that this speaker doesn’t understand the nuances of Greek or Hebrew grammar? Or that the person over there didn’t take the culture in 1st century Rome into account with his interpretation? I need to tell everyone that they’re wrong!
But do I really? And, perhaps a more important question, what makes me think I know everything or that I’m always the one who’s right in these situations? My knowledge is actually very limited. I don’t know why he quoted half the verse, I’m not fluent in ancient Greek or Hebrew either (though I do know how to use research materials to make up for part of that deficiency), and just because I’m obsessed with historical New Testament context doesn’t mean everyone has the time to read books about it.
The last time I heard something from a church speaker that seemed wrong to me, I reminded myself of Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” That might have helped me remember that he could be wrong because he didn’t check the context rather than because he was trying to undermine Biblical truth, but it’s still not a truly charitable assumption. A far better option is to approach people–either in-person or in our minds–with an assumption of positive intent. I wrote about this a couple of years ago in my post “The Necessity of Godly Conflict Resolution and Forgiveness.”
I know from my English studies, particularly learning how to peer review other people’s writings, that approaching someone else with the attitude “I can fix you/your writing” is completely unhelpful. To be helpful, criticism must be constructive and you should spend just as much time (if not more) pointing out what works as you do correcting what doesn’t work. Maybe the same thing is true when interacting with other Christians, including the people who we think “should know better” already.
Christians are explicitly called to love one another the same way that Christ has loved us and to maintain peace within the body of believers. That doesn’t mean there’s never a time and place for setting things right (Jesus corrected plenty of people), but it does mean that our first impulse should be to extend grace rather than express irritation. And maybe when we ask, “What did they get right?” before asking “What did they get wrong?” we might even find that our initial impulse that they’re wrong was (at least partly) in error. At the very least, we can revise our knee-jerk reaction to be one of grace that assumes positive intent rather than one of criticism that seeks errors.
For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. Above all keep your love for one another fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:7-11, NET (bold italics mark a quote from Prov 10:12).
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