A Critical and Mocking Spirit

Raca



Meaning: vain, empty, worthless

only found in Matt. 5:22

The Jews used
it as a word of contempt. It is derived from a root meaning "to
spit."
Matthew 5:22 (King James Version)



King James Version (KJV) Public Domain






22But I say unto
you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be
in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother,
Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

I John 4:20, "If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen. And this command (charge, order, injunction) we have from Him; that he who loves God shall love his brother [believer] also.

Critical And Mocking Spirits
by
John Edmiston

Matthew 7:1-6 HCSB "Do not judge, so that you won't be judged. (2) For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (3) Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but don't notice the log in your own eye? (4) Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and look, there's a log in your eye? (5) Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (6) Don't give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with
their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.[/size]
Introduction


Today we are looking at the problem of critical and mocking spirits. This is one of the most common problems in human relationships and lies at the root of much conflict. There is a kind of person who is sure they are right and everyone else is wrong, they are wise and everyone else is stupid. This is a massive spiritual defect.

The truth is that all human beings are made in the image of God - therefore we will be right about some things, but we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so we will all be wrong about some things.

People who go habitually around thinking “I am right and so and so is wrong” are under law not under grace. Such thinking is a punishing prison of the soul. Such people are always finding fault in other people's doctrine or their ideas or how tidy they are, or how they drive or various aspects of their personality. They mentally pick out all the faults of all the people in their world.

After a while such people tend to become rigid, hard and unyielding and their comments may become cruel. They can even become tyrannical. Every discussion has to end up with them being right and the other person being wrong. They become brilliant at debating but very poor at living and loving.

If this continues they lose their main relationships in life, their kids resent them, their partner leaves them, their friends stay away. One by one they get into blazing rows and relationship wrenching arguments and lose those closest to them. They end up eccentric, isolated and alone, in fact one of the four main causes of loneliness is the need to be always right.

People who go around thinking “I am right, you are wrong” or “I am OK, you are not OK” often use this as a justification for hostility. I can yell at you because I am right and you are wrong and because I am OK, and you are not OK. Of course this can grow in scale so that the Hatfield's and McCoys end up feuding over the assumption that “ I am right and you are wrong and because I am OK, and you are not OK” and of course entire nations go to war on the same set of assumptions.

Lastly the stance of “I am right and you are wrong” makes all learning and change very difficult. New ideas and new technology is seen as a threat and constructive suggestions from others are not easily taken on board. In my corporate outplacement work the main people forms wanted to get rid of were people who would not adapt to change especially those who resisted it in the form belief that they were right and the company was wrong. So people who go around being “always right” are liable to be lonely, hostile, rejected and employed at a level well below that which they could otherwise be employed at.

Now the title of this sermon is “Critical And Mocking Spirits” - because this is a spiritual problem not an intellectual problem, it is a problem of attitude, not a problem of knowing this or that.

Every person is made up of body, soul and spirit and the human spirit is where our life's wisdom resides. Wisdom is how we handle information and the inner framework that we put our information into. The spirit is what makes us animated, wise, perceptive, and worshipful, it is where our deepest life intuitions are formed and where our fundamental perspective on life takes shape. The Bible describes at least 21 different conditions of the human spirit including bitter spirits, joyful spirits, broken spirits, dull spirits etc.

A person with a critical spirit is always finding fault with others, a person with a scoffing and mocking spirit aggressively disdains that which other people value. In other words these people have made certain fundamental decisions about how they will process new input. The person with a critical spirit searches for all the tiny, tiny mistakes. That is the first thing they look for, their mental activity is geared towards proving their theory that I am right and you are wrong, I am OK and you are not OK”. Since everyone
human being has faults this is quite easy to accomplish. They forget that God is watching them and that one day they will also be judged.

Be sure to read the edited version.

I think you've made a mountain out of a molehill here.

A friend of yours and I will be praying for you, Changeling.

Tonnenator wrote:

A friend of yours and I will be praying for you, Changeling.

I have no friends, ergo this is not possible.

The Changeling wrote:

Tonnenator wrote:

A friend of yours and I will be praying for you, Changeling.

I have no friends, ergo this is not possible.

Yea, you have no friends, if I was you Id off yourself .

Wow now that was harsh.

Tonnenator wrote:

Wow now that was harsh.

Are you begining to see the difference between unkindness and "nice?"

No, not really. I think it's all the same. God commands us to be kind one to another, period. I see being "not nice" as unkindness, and I don't see a differentiation between the two, at all.

:::runs up and hugs Mark and then Tonya:::

I guess I'll have to hug Jim whenever he comes back.

come on guys. I hate it when there's strife here. everywhere I go there's nothing but anger and pain and sadness and I like comin here because there's goodness.
It's like a bubble bath with candles and type o negative playing for my soul. and when there's all this negativity here it leaves me with no happy place. I need my happy place people. if you leave me with no choice but the happy place inside my head I'll end up in the backwards jacket that makes me hug myself and the room with the soft walls.

Quote :

if you leave me with no choice but the happy
place inside my head I'll end up in the backwards jacket that makes me
hug myself and the room with the soft walls.

aww...what if i make sure they put a hoddie on the jacket?

for real though, i hate it too. it's pretty sad that we can't just all get along...

now don't go making me paranoid of hoodies!

I think the power of my hugs will overcome all the badness.

never go against the wishes of the blue haired girl who is huggung you while holding very dangerous knitting needles.

amen to that. i been shanked by knitters with anger management problems way too many times!

I keep them out just in case.

*shanks you right back with a sewing machine leather needle*

LOL!

Shank you very much.

OW!!!!!!OW!!!!!!!

Marcia!!!!!!!!! - Tonya is attacking people with really really sharp needles!!!
Dang at least mine arent sharp as razor blades on the tips.


one time (not at band camp) I was playing with my sewing machine after a few adult bevvies and I was turning the arm thingy to reposition my needle and I made it come down right in the middle of my nail. yeah I screamed it only cracked my nail and just punctured my nail bed but dang did it hurt.

I just find it amusing that the term "shanking" is being used with sewing needles and knitting needles.

sometimes on these mean streets of the sanctuary - you gotta look out for yourself whatever way you can.

anyway that's how us knittas roll. Needles up hooks down!!

(translation: knitters rule crocheters drool)

LOLOL

Good God you put the needle into your nail bed?!?!?

*cringes*

*Edited by Admin.
Grievances will be sent to Mods in private, not in a public forum.

Tonnenator wrote:

LOLOL

Good God you put the needle into your nail bed?!?!?

*cringes*

yeah - that hurt SOOOOO bad! I suppose it would have been worse if I had nails but I bite them. It was still not something I'd want to do again.

*

Quote :

that hurt SOOOOO bad! I suppose it would have
been worse if I had nails but I bite them. It was still not something
I'd want to do again.

i do that with splinters all the time.

NOT fun.

TONENNATOR , YOUR HEAD IS SPINNING.....VERY COOOL