Healthy churches are a powerful and attractive witness. In a recent article, I described six kinds of members who build up the church. Unfortunately, even in a healthy church, not every member pursues unity.
What kind of members wound our witness? What kind of members do not build up the body of Christ? Consider these four:
1. The member who loves to be armchair critic.
These days, cynicism seems cool. In a world dominated by social media and self-expression, cynicism is easily mistaken for wisdom and enlightenment. In Christian circles, people build entire ministries on cynicism; their purpose is to tell you what’s wrong with everyone else. And in our self-deception we manage to veil our critical spirits as wisdom.
Armchair critics are bent on finding fault with what others are doing while doing nothing themselves. They’re apathetic to things that are going on and are disappointed when you succeed. They’re quick to condemn and slow to commend. They falsely place themselves as judge, and you never hear them admit wrong. Cynics can never be pleased nor satisfied.
More often than not, cynicism hides the wounds of bitterness and even hatred. This type of member can destroy the unity and
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