The spirit of Fault-Finding
Robert Wurtz II
“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).
One of the characteristics of hypocrisy is a spirit of fault-finding. When I say “spirit,” I don’t necessarily mean demon possession, but it is undoubtedly a demonic influence. Pride and hypocrisy are bedfellows and are frequently encouraged and instigated by the enemy. Once people yield to these sins, they rarely realize how they offended God or their fellow man.
In modern times, being critical is almost a virtue. Critical thinking skills are essential to problem-solving, analysis, and reasoning. But what happens when our critical thinking skills are used to attack people? It becomes fault-finding, and it’s anything but virtuous. Matthew 7:5 reveals that fault-finders focus on everyone’s faults but their own and won’t hesitate to point them out. In my experience, they will criticize but rarely compliment. Fault-finding is an earthly, sensual, and demonic outlook or attitude. Jesus experienced it, and everyone who lives for Him will experience it. The spirit of fault-finding must never be practiced by professing believers.
The Audacity of Criticism
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The difference between real life and social media human behaviors. Real-life people are being friendly and non-judgmental. However, people become judgmental when they enter the social media cyberspace
There is a Hebrew term that everyone should have in their vocabulary, and its the word ḥuṣpāh (חֻצְפָּה), meaning “insolence,” “cheek,” or “audacity.” In Yiddish, it comes down in the slang form “chutzpah.” Think of the many times that the Pharisees, from a sense of superiority, challenged Jesus, and you’ll get a feel for what “chutzpah” means. Talk about audacity! John the Baptist, the Old Testament’s greatest man, didn’t feel worthy to unloose Jesus’ sandals, and yet the consummate fault-finders (Pharisees) criticized Him. As we say in modern times, “You just can’t make it up.”
A spirit of fault-finding, driven by pride, sends a fool headlong into danger with confidence (Proverbs 14:16). They forget that “just as God will forgive only those who forgive, so he will judge his people the same way they judge others.” The clear message of Matthew 6-7 is that we should treat others as we want to be treated. Brotherly love can’t happen unless we examine ourselves and mend our own ways before trying to help others or point out their faults.
Jesus uses the illustration of “eye surgery” (if you like) to explain the sensitive nature of fault-finding. Have you ever had something in your eye? If you have, then you know how painful it is. The last thing you want or need is some reckless person poking around on your eyeball trying to get something out.
I have had metal pieces (specs) removed from my eyes in the ER on three different occasions. It is extremely painful. The last thing I needed was a heavy-handed, half-blind, and insensitive ER Physician digging out those tiny shards. My eyes are hurting just thinking about it. Most of the time, when we have something in our eye, we get it out ourselves. We only allow someone to touch our eyes when we cannot get the spec out ourselves.
We shouldn’t be quick to insert ourselves into other peoples’ business or their spiritual lives. When Jesus healed on the Sabbath (for example), what business was it of the Pharisees? They never healed anyone, and yet they criticized and attacked Him. It’s that Hebrew word ḥuṣpāh (חֻצְפָּה) again. They attacked a trivial aspect of a great deed. This behavior is textbook fault-finding.
The fault-finder, blinded by the sins of pride and envy, ignores or refuses to address any sin or compromise that blocks their vision. They have an insensitive and reckless “here, let me get that out of your eye for you” kind of attitude. But Jesus said they couldn’t see clearly. Pride, anger, and envy make a person insensitive and callous. They are motivated by diabolic and fleshy forces rather than brotherly love.
James spoke to this very thing when he wrote, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:14–18 ESV).
Critical but not Complementary
Social media has a way of bringing out the spirit of fault-finding unlike anything else. Nobody likes a troll. If we rarely compliment people for their good deeds but are quick to criticize them, we may be a fault-finder. The Pharisees sat around and waited for Jesus to do something they could censure. They were envious and looked for opportunities to attack Him. Yet they couldn’t have loosened His sandals if they wanted to.
Not everyone is Jesus. He was perfect. I don’t mean to imply that the person with the speck, splinter, or straw in their eye (as it were) doesn’t need help or doesn’t need to repent. As I said before, we typically remove foreign objects from our own eyes and don’t want or need help. Yet, when we see something seriously wrong about a person or something they have done, our first reaction should be self-examination. Do I have a beam in my eye? Why do I want to intervene here? Am I being motivated by brotherly love?
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