Were you at Hillside today? Tommy (our senior pastor) unveiled The Critic in his series, "Pest Control: Dealing with Difficult People." Perhaps you saw the video where Tommy was “silenced” by an amazing heroine with a taser gun, after she grew weary of his critical tirade. He laid there on the floor, like a neuro-blasted bug, after having his longhorn rant about Texas A&M shut down. (Gig ‘em.)Of course, the video was total comedy fiction. (Or an OU fan's fantasy) But have you ever felt like taking a critic down, too? Maybe not with a stun gun. But have you hoped the person rattling your cage would somehow be “silenced?” We’re not talking death or physical torture, but could they at least feel the fiery sting of remorse, for crying out loud? Or does their pesky buzzing not really bother you?
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold on settings of silver.” (Prov. 25:11) Oh, to serve that kind of dish to the people we love! (Better than the poison apple the wicked queen served Snow White.) Is it always this black and white? Can a golden apple ever be a word of correction? Angela Thomas asks this keen question. “Is it possible to give a word of discipline without condemning someone?”
So one last question, dear friends… how do you know whether your apple is golden or arsenic when you serve it?
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