Is Criticism of Church Leadership Appropriate?

A recurring criticism of this blog (and all of the other blogs which are critical of the Armstrong Churches of God) is that the criticisms voiced here (and elsewhere) are evil and inappropriate. Banned by HWA recently highlighted a good example of this in a post titled You have been WARNED about this blog! The commentator noted: "The continuation of verbal attack and condemnation of the Church of God or any group for that matter, is biblically unsound, sinful and destructive." Never mind that the ACOGs continually criticize Roman Catholics, Protestants, and other faiths - they completely miss the irony inherent in this! More importantly, however, was this a valid criticism of our criticisms? Are such criticisms biblically unsound? Are they sinful and destructive? And, once again, if the answers to those questions are "yes," then what does that suggest about their own criticisms of other folks?

First, it should be noted that the founder of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, was continually criticizing the religious leaders of his day! Hence, it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that the practice is not biblically sound. What kind of criticism did Christ level at the religious leaders of his day? He criticized their hypocrisy, inconsistency, emphasis/priorities, pride, leadership style (especially their tendency toward authoritarianism vs. leading by example), and their interpretations of the Torah and God's will (See Matthew 23 and Luke 11), Now that covers a whole lot of territory! Do you recognize any of those same themes/criticisms in the posts that have been critical of the ACOGs and their leadership?

Even so, it should be noted that Jesus NEVER personalized his criticisms of the religious leaders and practices of his day! The Gospels simply do not contain ANY instances where Jesus made derogatory remarks about the personal appearance, speaking, moral character, or educational backgrounds of the folks he criticized. In short, Christ's criticisms always focused on the teachings and examples of the people who were the targets of his remarks. To be clear, Christ's criticisms were NOT personal attacks, and the characterization of criticism as such is discredited by the way that Christ handled these situations. Moreover, as Scripture indicates that Christ lived a sinless life, we must also conclude that criticism of this nature cannot be inherently evil!

Finally, unlike the "Accuser of the brethren" (Satan the Devil) whom ACOG folks are so fond of comparing us to, most of our criticisms of these folks are motivated by a desire to correct destructive behaviors and teachings - NOT to spiritually destroy the target! In other words, we are attempting to point out heretical beliefs and practices for the purpose of helping others to avoid or escape them. Hence, I would suggest that the ACOGs and their leaders heed this admonition found in the book of Proverbs in assessing their reactions to our criticisms: "If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor." (Proverbs 15:31-33)