In a congregation I was serving years ago, there was a retired couple who was very active in the church. They volunteered for everything, and they always did what they said they would do, and more. They never missed a worship service, potluck supper, guest speaker, funeral, or anything else at church. If the lights were on, they were there. They usually were the first to arrive to make sure everything was set up; and the last to leave, making sure everything was cleaned up and put away. Therefore, one would think that I, as the pastor, would be grateful for such active participants in the life of our congregation.
I was grateful. They were a big help to me and to everyone in the whole church. But we all would have been far more grateful if it wasn’t for one huge glaring fault in both of these people. It was a fault that caused a great deal of damage to the congregation, damage that sometimes far outweighed all the good they were able to do. Their fault was that they were constant complainers. They had a negative outlook on everything and everyone, and they were always telling me and everyone else all about it. They complained about the people who never came to church, and they found fault with everyone who was there. They complained about the people who never helped with anything at the church; and, they complained about anyone who did help with anything, because it was never done right. They would complain to the other church members about me, and they complained to me about everyone else in the church. It was non-stop, it was vicious, and it wore me out.
It is important to have open communication in a congregation. It is necessary that council members and the pastor receive input and feedback, both positive and negative. But the ongoing, mean-spirited complaining about everyone and everything by this couple, was poison to our congregational life.
The funny thing was, whenever they had anything to say, which was all the time, they always started out in the same way. They would always start by saying, “Now, as you know, I am not one to complain, but…,” and off they would go on another rant. I would think, “What do you mean you are ‘not one to complain?’ You are the two biggest complainers I have ever seen, or hope to see, in my entire life. What do you mean you’re not a complainer?” I wanted to say, “Wake up, look at yourself, and don’t be so blind.”
I tried to direct them to more positive thoughts about the congregation, their brothers and sisters in Christ, and life in general. They could be very nice, and they would listen; but it never did any good. They were completely blind to their biggest fault, one that was obvious to anyone who knew them for even five minutes.
On the one hand, they were wonderful people, believed in Jesus, worked long hours for the church, and would do anything for me. But they were so proud of that, and so self-righteous, that it would never occur to them that by their negativism they were causing great damage to the congregation which they really did love and faithfully served. They were blinded by their self-righteousness.
In John chapter nine there is a story of two kinds of blindness. First of all, Jesus restored sight to a man who was blind from birth. Wonderful! You would think that everyone would be ‘oohing and aahhing,’ jumping for joy, and saying “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Amen.” I am sure many people were.
However, the Pharisees found something to complain about. They complained that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath Day when no one was supposed to do any work. They even started an investigation. They questioned the healed man, who replied, “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” Or in other words, “Are you kidding me? Did you not just see what happened? Are you really missing the whole point? We are in the presence of the power of God.” But complainers will complain, no matter what.
Finally, the Pharisees found the rule-breaker. It was then that Jesus told them about a different kind of blindness: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” The Pharisees thought they know and could see everything, but their self-righteousness blinded them to the lesson of the obvious miracle right before them. Jesus, the Light of the World, was there, but they chose to remain in darkness. The Pharisees got the point and asked, “What? Are we blind?” Yes, they were blind. They looked for faults and something to complain about in everyone else, but they were blind to their own sinfulness.
So, what is your response? Are you thinking, “Oh yes, I know people just like that, who so blind to their stubbornness, negativism, pettiness, jealousy, arrogance (or whatever). Everyone with eyes can it but them.” I am sure we can all think of other people who certainly need to hear and take to heart this lesson.
However, what we should be thinking is, “I wonder what faults I have that are clear to everyone else except me. I wonder where my own blind spots are.”
You see, this spiritual blindness does not affect only Pharisees and other people. We all have blind spots, and we should try and ‘see’ our own. Whenever we learn something from the Bible, we should first of all apply it to ourselves.
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Matthew 7:1-5 — (Jesus said), “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
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