Monday Morning Quarterbacks

Since childhood I have always had a tremendous love for the game of football. From age eight through college, I participated in organized football programs with varying degrees of success. In college after an undefeated season, I was blessed with a gold national championship ring. One thing that didn't change though: every year there was never a shortage of post game day critics. While these Monday Morning Quarterbacks probably never stepped foot on the old gridiron, nothing seemed to stop the voices of those naysayers. As a matter of fact, the better we did the louder they complained. They had all the answers about what we should have done and didn't do, or what we didn't do and should have done.

When God has called a person to perform a work in His Kingdom, the same type of critics seem to come out of the woodwork. The vision that God has given is attacked by others in the church to prevent it from coming to fruition, leaving that person battered and the vision stillborn. There are too many of these abortions being performed in the church of Jesus Christ today, and it's time to take a stand against this.

Nehemiah took a stand when, during the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite were trying to abort the fulfillment of God's plan for his life. When he was attacked, he sought the Lord. Nehemiah knew that he was in God's will and those who opposed him were not. Of this Nehemiah wrote, "For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands" (Nehemiah 6:9). And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God" (Nehemiah 6:16). Thus, the vision given to Nehemiah was preserved and bore fruit.

We have been told all our lives sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. That my friends is an absolute lie. The scriptures teach us exactly the opposite: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). When a person is criticized, the effect of the words on their soul can be compared to their body being punched or hit by a club. Their soul is bruised. The more critical or hateful words that are hurled at them, the more battered their soul becomes. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of how the people of his own nation had beaten him with their tongues.

There was a recent study done by a major university that for every negative comment made to a person it takes 18 positive comments to wipe out the one negative comment. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where we need to be focusing our efforts. We need to be encouraging one another toward the fulfillment of God's purpose for our lives. Proverbs 25:11-12 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear." The church has no lack of reprovers, but what the church really needs are more wise reprovers.

The scripture says "faithful are the wounds of a friend" and "iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (Prov. 27:6,17). Contrast this with Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." It's so easy to be critical, it's so easy to criticize, but it's the rare individual who knows how to criticize wisely. This is what it means by a wise reprover-someone who has the wisdom to offer criticism as Jesus would have done it. Such criticism skillfully applied is necessary for proper growth and development. This is the iron sharpening iron. These are the faithful wounds of a friend. Talebearing, which is gossiping, is hurtful and destructive.

Paul addressed the gossip problem in (Gal 5:14-15) by saying that it absolutely cannot be allowed. The reason Paul was so adamant about this point was that he knew the deadly power of a gossiping tongue. It was to prevent this that Jesus taught us to go to our brother if we have something against him (Matt 18:15-20). Don't go to others, behind his back, and expound on the problem. And don't let others come to you behind somebody else's back to talk about them in a negative fashion. When someone comes to you with gossip, they want you to share in the sin of gossip. At that point, you have something against that person and you need to wisely reprove them. Remember, if they will talk to you about somebody else behind their back, they are just as likely to tear you down behind your back.

When you go to a person in obedience to Christ, if the person will not listen to you, then you are supposed to try a second time accompanied by someone else. Be discerning about whom you involve in the situation, and if the person still won't listen, then it's time the leadership of the church becomes involved. The scripture says that God has given leaders to the church for the very purpose of protecting and supporting the members of the church.

Coming back to that championship season: more than anything else, the success our team had was due to the wisdom of the coaching staff. They made it mandatory that no player on the team read any sports publications nor watch or listen to any sports-related broadcasts, because so many have negative messages. The coaches knew that discouragement and defeat would be the result, if the players were subjected to those messages. The team's obedience to that rule resulted in a national championship.

God's word gives us a similar command and if we obey there is a promise: "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues (Psalm 31:20)." The Apostle John wrote that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. This is easy to see in the negative words and ungodly images found on TV, in magazines, on the Internet, and in other media. Jeremiah wrote of the sword that reached into the soul. Negative words and ungodly images are swords that, if allowed entrance into the mind, will reach into the depths of a person's being. Once there, they wreak havoc and destruction. The only true refuge from the wickedness of the world is to be found in the secrecy of God's pavilion.

The heart of God is that we all begin to walk in maturity in what he has called us to do and if we are created in the image of God, and God himself is a life giver then we ourselves must learn how to speak life into the lives of everyone we come in contact with. "There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel" (Proverbs 20:15).

In the name of Jesus Christ we bind these critical spirits that have crippled so many and ask that in the name of our precious Lord that you would search each of our hearts and reveal to us any area of our lives where we may be guilty of giving place to critical spirits that have brought discouragement of any kind into the lives of others. We ask that you would forgive us in these areas where we have been guilty of Monday Morning Quarterbacking and please grant us the strength to do our part in turning the tide of anything that would serve to hinder your perfect will being fulfilled in the lives of us all. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen!


	Monday Morning Quarterbacks Since childhood I have always had a tremendous love for the game of football. From age eight through college, I participated in organized football programs with varying degrees of success. In college after an undefeated season, I was blessed with a gold national championship ring. One thing that didn't change though: every year there was never a shortage of post game day critics. While these Monday Morning Quarterbacks probably never stepped foot on the old gridiron, nothing seemed to stop the voices of those naysayers. As a matter of fact, the better we did the louder they complained. They had all the answers about what we should have done and didn't do, or what we didn't do and should have done. When God has called a person to perform a work in His Kingdom, the same type of critics seem to come out of the woodwork. The vision that God has given is attacked by others in the church to prevent it from coming to fruition, leaving that person battered and the vision stillborn. There are too many of these abortions being performed in the church of Jesus Christ today, and it's time to take a stand against this. Nehemiah took a stand when, during the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite were trying to abort the fulfillment of God's plan for his life. When he was attacked, he sought the Lord. Nehemiah knew that he was in God's will and those who opposed him were not. Of this Nehemiah wrote, "For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands" (Nehemiah 6:9). And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God" (Nehemiah 6:16). Thus, the vision given to Nehemiah was preserved and bore fruit. We have been told all our lives sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. That my friends is an absolute lie. The scriptures teach us exactly the opposite: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). When a person is criticized, the effect of the words on their soul can be compared to their body being punched or hit by a club. Their soul is bruised. The more critical or hateful words that are hurled at them, the more battered their soul becomes. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of how the people of his own nation had beaten him with their tongues. There was a recent study done by a major university that for every negative comment made to a person it takes 18 positive comments to wipe out the one negative comment. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where we need to be focusing our efforts. We need to be encouraging one another toward the fulfillment of God's purpose for our lives. Proverbs 25:11-12 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear." The church has no lack of reprovers, but what the church really needs are more wise reprovers. The scripture says "faithful are the wounds of a friend" and "iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (Prov. 27:6,17). Contrast this with Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." It's so easy to be critical, it's so easy to criticize, but it's the rare individual who knows how to criticize wisely. This is what it means by a wise reprover-someone who has the wisdom to offer criticism as Jesus would have done it. Such criticism skillfully applied is necessary for proper growth and development. This is the iron sharpening iron. These are the faithful wounds of a friend. Talebearing, which is gossiping, is hurtful and destructive. Paul addressed the gossip problem in (Gal 5:14-15) by saying that it absolutely cannot be allowed. The reason Paul was so adamant about this point was that he knew the deadly power of a gossiping tongue. It was to prevent this that Jesus taught us to go to our brother if we have something against him (Matt 18:15-20). Don't go to others, behind his back, and expound on the problem. And don't let others come to you behind somebody else's back to talk about them in a negative fashion. When someone comes to you with gossip, they want you to share in the sin of gossip. At that point, you have something against that person and you need to wisely reprove them. Remember, if they will talk to you about somebody else behind their back, they are just as likely to tear you down behind your back. When you go to a person in obedience to Christ, if the person will not listen to you, then you are supposed to try a second time accompanied by someone else. Be discerning about whom you involve in the situation, and if the person still won't listen, then it's time the leadership of the church becomes involved. The scripture says that God has given leaders to the church for the very purpose of protecting and supporting the members of the church. Coming back to that championship season: more than anything else, the success our team had was due to the wisdom of the coaching staff. They made it mandatory that no player on the team read any sports publications nor watch or listen to any sports-related broadcasts, because so many have negative messages. The coaches knew that discouragement and defeat would be the result, if the players were subjected to those messages. The team's obedience to that rule resulted in a national championship. God's word gives us a similar command and if we obey there is a promise: "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues (Psalm 31:20)." The Apostle John wrote that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. This is easy to see in the negative words and ungodly images found on TV, in magazines, on the Internet, and in other media. Jeremiah wrote of the sword that reached into the soul. Negative words and ungodly images are swords that, if allowed entrance into the mind, will reach into the depths of a person's being. Once there, they wreak havoc and destruction. The only true refuge from the wickedness of the world is to be found in the secrecy of God's pavilion. The heart of God is that we all begin to walk in maturity in what he has called us to do and if we are created in the image of God, and God himself is a life giver then we ourselves must learn how to speak life into the lives of everyone we come in contact with. "There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel" (Proverbs 20:15). In the name of Jesus Christ we bind these critical spirits that have crippled so many and ask that in the name of our precious Lord that you would search each of our hearts and reveal to us any area of our lives where we may be guilty of giving place to critical spirits that have brought discouragement of any kind into the lives of others. We ask that you would forgive us in these areas where we have been guilty of Monday Morning Quarterbacking and please grant us the strength to do our part in turning the tide of anything that would serve to hinder your perfect will being fulfilled in the lives of us all. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen!
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