The Scriptures teach us to work through proper channels of criticism and to speak when necessary. This is not always easy to navigate. On the one hand, the Bible tells us to go privately to a brother if he has sinned against us personally (Matt. 18:15) and not to bring an accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses (1 Tim. 5:19); but, on the other hand, it tell us that there are times for public confrontation and and that we are to rebuke those who persist in sin (whether moral or doctrinal) publicly so that they learn to fear (1 Tim. 5:20). 

“What do you think about the whole Mark Driscoll fiasco?” “Did you know Tim Keller believes in _____ ?” “What do you think about John Piper inviting ______ to his Conference?” Over the past decade, I’ve been asked these and other related questions too many times to recall. This is not always a bad thing. Caring about what happens in the wider church is something that we see played out on the pages of the New Testament; but, the way that people tend to line up on either side of these questions to either uncritically defend or hyper-critically condemn well-known pastors/theologians has become a matter of grave concern to me. In part, because I often find myself falling off into one or the other of these two pits. I rarely come across that wise someone who I would call “a grateful critic.”

On the one hand, it is not wrong to be critical. A love for biblical truth and practice demands that there should be a discerning and appropriately critical response to error in the writing, teaching and actions of public figures. We’re commanded to “test all things” (1 Thess. 5:21). On the other hand, there can be a hyper-critical, vitriolic and mean-spirited posture taken on in the name of discernment. I sometimes get the sense that hyper-critical people want to see men with public ministries fall. I know this is true because I know that I have had manifestations of this in the recesses of my own heart. In the same way, it is not wrong to be an appreciative fan of popular pastors/theologians; but, it is wrong to idolize them to the point of being unwilling to criticize them (or to receive criticisms of them from others). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve raised a much guarded criticism about a certain aspect of some well-known minister’s theology or methodology, only to have a disapproving glance or phrase shot back at me. I also know this because I have caught myself doing this very thing. Instead of adopting an exclusively critical or an entirely affirmative attitude towards our popular figures in Evangelical and Calvinistic circles, I would suggest that all of us learn to become grateful critics of popular pastors/theologians. Here is what I mean by “a grateful critic:”*

1. The Scriptures teach us to be thankful for men who have clay feet. We can honor them for all the gifts and graces of God that He uses in them for His glory. The Scriptures teach us to give thanks to God for faithful ministers of the Gospel and to give them the honor that is due unto them.  While condemning preacher idolatry and personality-driven factions in the church, the Apostle Paul speaks of “the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel” (2 Cor. 8:18). Additionally, we are told that elders who rule well should be “considered worthy of double honor” (1 Tim. 5:17). While this probably refers to financial remuneration in the context, it surely includes expressing gratitude for their ministries. It’s right that we should be grateful for the ministries of men that God has raised up and used for the spiritual nourishment and well-being of our souls. We should be grateful to God, first and foremost, for raising them up. We should then be grateful to them for pouring out their lives in the service of Christ.

There can sometimes be a false humility that manifests itself under the guise that men are not to be honored because we are not to praise men. This is, of course, a functional impossibility. Everyone who I have ever heard make such an audacious claim still functionally honors those who think like them. The problem is that much of our admiration for men is idolatry and not biblical gratitude. We all tend to idolize others in whom we see things that we think we see in ourselves (or wish that we saw in ourselves). When they succeed in championing our causes we praise them; when they fail, we criticize them because they have let down something that we have idolized. All of us gives honor to others.

2. The Scriptures teach us to be critical of our heroes because they have clay feet. The Scriptures teach us to be biblically critical. Every faithful minister engaged in public ministry should want to be held to biblical standards and scrutiny by those by whom they are heard.

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