If You Don't Have Something Nice To Say. . . Come Sit Next To Me

Facing The Critical Problem Of Having A Critical Heart:

1. Choose your only legitimate option: speak to them, not about them.

- v. 1 - “against”

- Big Lie: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

- when people believe this, it seems so impossible that they dismiss God’s instructions.

- cf. Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 13:2, 10; 1 Timothy 1:20; Titus 3:10.

2. Clear your criticisms with God first.

- v. 2b - “And the Lord heard of it.”

- our first instinct is to go to a friend; it should be to go to God.

3. Determine if your motive is to lift up or tear down.

- v. 3 - tearing him down.

- Ephesians 4:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

- is this a personal attack or concerned with what they’re doing?

- vv. 1-2 - stated reason was not the real reason.

- Matthew 7:1-5.

4. Prepare for the boomerang your criticism creates.

- v. 10.

- realize that your critical spirit will color you.

- God’s irony: Miriam’s prejudice - skin color; God’s justice - skin color.

- Miriam’s complaints about Moses’ wife’s black skin resulted in her being cursed with white (leprous) skin.

- our constant criticism will often not do much to the other person, but will destroy us.

- shape this often takes: someone is constantly negative about other people and they end up in a prison of negativity, creating darkness and health problems for them.

5. Fear the dangers of speaking against God’s anointed.

- v. 6-8.

- the criticisms were not warranted - vv. 2-3.

- this is not just a point about preachers - any Christian through whom God is working powerfully can have the anointing of God.

- could be another Sunday School teacher whose classes seem to be fuller all the time and you say it’s because they don’t teach the hard stuff; could be a co-worker who’s making a dramatic impact for Christ and you say it’s because they’ll hang out with anyone; could be a pastor whose church is reaching people for Christ and you say it’s because they merely entertain.

- God will zealously protect His anointed man or woman.