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The Danger of Nitpicky Christianity

3/31/2017

10 Comments

 
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I’m a seminary student.
​

That means I enjoy a good theological debate. I like to nitpick and expose theological error.


However, I think I have come to enjoy it a little too much. Refuting false teaching can quickly change from a Biblical imperative to an unhealthy obsession. Guarding the truth and exposing error is both necessary and commanded, but should it really be something we crave? Here are three indicators that you have crossed the line from Biblical nit-picking to sinful nit-picking.
​You magnify self

There is something incredibly satisfying about smacking a heretic across the face with Scripture. In fact, it’s addicting. Before you know it, you take up refuting false teaching as a hobby. You want people to know you for your sound theological arguments and air-tight Scriptural logic. You inwardly scoff at the theological illiteracy of others, and then proceed to pin them to the wall with Truth.

You do all this, not out of love for Christ or others, but out of love for self. It makes you feel good about yourself. It is driven by arrogance. This is not the expression of godly wisdom, but is an expression of “selfish ambition,” described by James as “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (Ja 3:16).

You become cynical

If you try hard enough, you can find heresy under every rock. Every sermon you hear and every book you read is opportunity to expose theological error. You dissect phrases and vocabulary, intently searching for the slightest deviance from Scriptural truth. You go to church listening for what heresies the pastor might bring up rather than listening to what God might have you to learn. You become a cynic.

Discernment is vitally important in the Christian life. We must not embrace every sermon and book we come across. God commands us to “test the Spirits to see if they are from God” (1 Jn 4:1). So how do you know when you have crossed the line from discernment to cynicism?

A cynic is someone who assumes that theological error is present, even when it isn’t. A cynic rarely seeks clarification. He waits for that one misspoken word, clings onto it, and uses it to condemn the speaker instead of asking him to clarify. A cynic is not a joyful person. He finds more satisfaction in pointing out the error of others than he does in his own salvation. A cynic lacks compassion for others. His says, “You should know better” instead of saying, “Let me help you.”

You become your own worst enemy

False teachers are described in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 as having “an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrel about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction…”

Wow...that sounds like a Facebook theology debate.

You know that you have gone too far when your attempts to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ morph into “an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrel about words” --the same craving that fuels the false teachers you claim to oppose. Yes, I must confront false teaching, but there is a difference between guarding your beloved Gospel when it is attacked and trying to pick a fight because you crave theological controversy.

If you’re not careful, you’ll become your own worst enemy, producing the same result as the false teachers: “envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction.”

The Cure

So what is the cure? Jesus tells us in Revelation 2:1-7 when he speaks to the Church of Ephesus:
“I know your works….how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false….But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do works that you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans which I also hate”
​
Jesus commends their stance against false teachers, but he rebukes their heart condition. They were hating the right things, but they weren’t loving the right things. We must fight for the Truth out of a heart of love for our Savior.

Don’t crave the fight; crave the Cause of Christ. Fall in love with his grace and mercy. Rejoice in his undeserved favor. Thank him for rescuing you from sin. When we return to our “First Love,” we will take any risk necessary to “guard the good deposit entrusted” to us (2 Tim 1:14). Confrontations will arise. Some of them will be ugly. But we are not to crave these confrontations.

If we return to our First Love, we will confront boldly, but “with gentleness” (2 Tim 2:25).
We will confront for the purpose of restoring others, not humiliating them.
We will confront to preserve unity, not destroy it.

A little “nit-pickiness” is necessary to expose false teaching, but we must be aware of the dangers. If we grow in our love for our merciful Savior, even our “nit-pickiness” will be marked by grace.
10 Comments
Cheriton Bery
4/4/2017 05:39:50 am

Great thoughts,Aarons. I agree with what you have said here and must admit that I am a recovering "nit picker". Thanks for posting because there is always that danger to return to nit picking ways. I conclude that nit picking is exhausting and very unpleasant . I'm so thankful for the grace of God.

Reply
Aaron Berry
4/4/2017 06:11:56 am

Good to hear! I think biblical nit picking (said more positively as discernment) actually should have a degree of unpleasantness about it. It is when we start craving and enjoying the fight a little too much that we have a problem.

Reply
Mindy
7/14/2020 08:11:28 pm

I gave my life to the Lord when I was 11. Im now 58. My backslidden christian husband of 2 years prides himself on all the books he’s read, including the Bible. However I’ve noticed lately he’s become arrogant making fun of others, criticizing people, even to point of critiqueing Apostle Paul in 1 & 2nd Corinthians. We disagreed on something yesterday and he acted shocked I didnt agree w/him. - I dont see the relevance to dates, times etc of Pauls letters, (to my believing in Jesus or my salvation), but he insists on nitpicing them among other things...Why does he do this??

Scott LaPierre link
4/4/2017 02:45:23 pm

Hi Aaron,
During our morning family Bible study we've been going through Matthew's Gospel verse-by-verse. Yesterday morning we read...

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!"

The part about the religious leaders straining out a gnat, made me think of your "nit picky" observation, which I agree with. Another parallel is with Jesus' earlier words in Matthew 7:3 "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" The "speck" would seem to be nit picky.

Reply
Aaron Berry link
4/4/2017 02:57:24 pm

What I find very informative about both of the passages you mentioned is that Jesus doesn't condemn the act of tithing "mint and dill and cumin" or removing "the speck in your brother's eye" in and of themselves.

In the Matthew 23 passage, he condemns the fact that they focused on tithing but forsook the "weightier matters of the law." In fact, he says at the end of verse 23, "...These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others." In other words, the nit-picky aspects of the law were necessary, but not to the neglect of the weightier aspects.

In the Matthew 7 passage, he says that we must remove the beam in our own eye so that "you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Helping take the speck out of your brother's eye is a good thing. It's only sinful when you try to do so without addressing you own sins first.

Reply
Rodney Olsen link
4/7/2017 08:54:23 am

Martyn Lloyd Jones was a man who was committed to good theology yet I love this quote from him.

"I can forgive a man for a bad sermon, I can forgive the preacher almost anything if he gives me a sense of God, if he gives me something for my soul, if he gives me the sense that, though he is inadequate himself, he is handling something which is very great and very glorious, if he gives me some dim glimpse of the majesty and the glory of God, the love of Christ my Savior, and the magnificence of the Gospel. If he does that I am his debtor, and I am profoundly grateful to him."

He was not a man who minimised the danger of heresy but he understood that our chief aim is not to have the best theology, rather to know God and glorify him.

Reply
Aaron Berry link
4/7/2017 09:10:14 am

Fantastic quote. I have struggled to keep this mindset, especially while studying theology. When listening to a sermon, all I focus on is the theological mistakes, no matter how minor, and completely miss the glory of God that is being proclaimed.

Reply
Alex link
4/7/2017 11:48:20 pm

I came across your blog through a facebook group. I just wanted to say that you have a great website! Stay encouraged and keep up the good work. - Alex

Reply
Bryan Stoudt link
4/10/2017 12:43:42 pm

Hey Aaron, appreciate the transparency about your own challenges to model Christ's humility. I remember really struggling with this during my seminary days, too, and know I still have room to grow here. Thanks for re-focusing us through Scripture and calling us to discern truth, but in a loving way.

Reply
Alan
1/7/2022 03:57:11 pm

Being bound in the Irvine founded 2x2 no name sect for 35 years where nitpicking was majored on. You were taught to become a hurtful scoffer,but we were scripturely so ignorant nitpicking was your greatest opt out.You often" crossed the road"so to speak, avoiding anyone who could theologically challange that ignorance.As they now ignore us in the Street because we left to pursue a more fruitful biblical walk in His service. You have written a beautiful clear insight,into a subject that was taking me away from Jesus tteachings...

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