I was cleaning out some things on my computer at home and I came across something from 1993. It is a short note written from one religious leader, whom I’ll call Ted to a former leader of the same church, whom I’ll call Jay. Jay wrote an essay pointing out the inaccuraccies and exaggerations of an essay written by Jay’s boss. Ted responds as follows:

Dear Jay,
Having read your critique of the article, I am reminded of the opening verse of Luke 14: “One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.”

You obviously are spending much time and energy “carefully watching” us and our sister churches, but Jay, I feel it is with much the same spirit we find in those who carefully watched Jesus. They watched in hopes that they would “catch Jesus in something he said” (Luke 20:20). While they found what they were looking for—things that in their eyes condemned him—they missed the fact that people’s lives were being changed.

It makes me sad to see someone with a great mind and a gift from God to understand and proclaim the Scriptures using all that to “carefully watch” those who are out giving all they have to advance the Gospel. Was nothing learned from all those years in the traditional church? Did we not see that one could be technically right on some issue but have a heart that misses the point?

As I read your extensive work, I ask, “What does Jay want? Does he want to stop a movement that is bringing people out of immorality, homosexuality, drugs, racism, violence, marital conflict, abuse, humanism, relativism, materialism, and the like?

“Does he want us to abandon an effort that results in people loving God with all their hearts and being thankful for his grace that has saved them?

“Does he want us to be like the traditional churches?

“Does he want us to like the church he is in right now?

“Does he want us to have the relationships and commitment we find there?”

No doubt, Jay, you have carefully read everything I have written. You know I do not think this is a perfect movement (and furthermore, you know no leader in this movement thinks that)[emphasis added by me], but I will not abandon it because of a few mistakes—not when God is using it to make such a difference in my lifeand the lives of others.

I would love to see us re-united, together working to hold up Christ. I pray it can still happen.

Sincerely,
Ted

I think Ted has changed quite a bit since 1993. I don’t post this as an indictment, otherwise I would not have changed the names. I post this because I catch myself responding to critique in the same way.

I’m in a position at work and in my hobbies where I offer ideas and solutions. Some of those solutions require a change to the business as usual. As a result, I can get detailed responses that state exactly why and when a procedure was put in place. It’s stated very professionally, it’s just it seems a bit long to me. I’ve responded to this quite a few times by asking whether or not they want the issue fixed or do they want the issue to remain broken.

I know the truth, it’s a logical fallacy to provide a false dilemma. There are other solutions and/or a policy is not necessarily bad. Key is that my proposal needs to be adjusted and I don’t want to make changes. I’m taking a professional matter personally and when I do that, logic and fairness goes out the window.

Jay never said that he wanted the other good things happening to change. He wanted the exaggerations and lies to be recanted.

I hope that today, when given a critique of my viewpoint or when I encounter a contrary point of view that I will not be evasive. I hope that I do not change the subject. I hope that I can focus on the issue and not on me.