What Is FAULTFINDING? What’s Wrong With It?

Jude warned believers in the 1st Century about false teachers; notice how he describes them:

These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude 1:16

The one description we want to focus on is ‘faultfinder.’ A faultfinder is someone who tends to find fault in others — usually a rival — and then murmurs & complains about it to others, which naturally poisons the minds of listeners against the victim and thus creates division. This is something the LORD “hates,” as observed in Proverbs 6:16-19. Such criticisms are usually of a vague, petty nature voiced in a mocking manner; that is, with a vibe of scorn, condescension, insult and chortling.

James commented on faultfinding in his epistle:

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

James 4:11

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:9

Wow, impenitent faultfinding draws divine judgment! Beware.

Of course, when a brother or sister sins, they should be confronted & corrected as led of the Spirit, which you can read about here, but that’s not what we’re discussing in this article. We’re talking about the tendency to pick out the faults in others — typically a person the critic is envious/jealous of — and then regularly murmur about it in a mocking manner to other people, which spurs division and strife.

Observe how negatively the biblical book of wisdom speaks of this kind of behavior:

…whoever spreads slander is a fool.

Proverbs 10:18

With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor…

Proverbs 11:9

A person who lacks judgment derides his neighbor…

Proverbs 11:12

A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

Proverbs 16:28

According to these verses, a murmuring faultfinder is:

A fool
Godless
A person who lacks judgment
A perverse person

I’m sure you don’t want to be any of these things, neither do I. So let’s not be mocking faultfinders. Amen?

Everyday Examples of Faultfinding

People can easily slip into a faultfinding spirit, usually influenced by a carnal ringleader. For instance, Carol & I were camping out with some friends/relatives several years ago and one person started mocking a certain man not present who happened to be involved in ministry. We all ended up joining-in with mocking comments, except for my wife Carol, who later said she didn’t feel right about it. It was easy for me to get in on the act since I was at odds with this particular man at the moment (a former best friend). The next Sunday I was scheduled to give a sermon and had no anointing; it was a struggle from beginning to end. Convicted by the Spirit, I knew what the issue was and humbly repented.

A more recent example took place on Twitter yesterday. A man posted a video of a well-known minister and ridiculed him as a con man. I’m not a big fan of this particular minister, but I’ve read a couple of his books and heard a handful of his sermons. While I don’t agree with everything he says, he’s a formidable man of God and I respect him. Dozens of others on the thread joined in with disparaging comments regarding the preacher, all trite criticisms.

So I watched the video to see what the issue was and all it depicted was the minister illustrating how to put on the armor of God and, specifically, use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God implemented as an offensive weapon, spiritually speaking. I pointed this out to the man who posted the video and he responded, “Did you see the look in his eyes? He’s obviously demon possessed. The Bible says the ‘The eye is the lamp of the body’ (Luke 11:34).”

I replied, “He was simply illustrating how to conduct spiritual warfare, which you shouldn’t approach like Howdy Doody. You have to mean business.” I then asked him: How did Christ look when he astonishingly cleared the temple of fools (Mark 11:15-18)? How did Paul look when he radically confronted a meddling magician on Cyprus (Acts 13:8-12)? These were mere physical confrontations; consider Jesus and Paul’s demeanor in serious spiritual confrontations.

A couple of others chimed in, but I pointed out how all the criticisms on the thread were vague accusations regarding the minister’s eyes or what have you. There was no meat to their carping. So I asked, “Since he overtly preaches against sin and hasn’t been involved in a scandal, the issue must be doctrine. What doctrine do you think he’s teaching falsely? Be specific.” One person — only one — said that he preached giving and receiving back. I pointed out how the Bible actually supports the principle of giving & receiving (Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6 & Philippians 4:17), not to mention God’s provision (Philippians 4:19 & Proverbs 10:22).

I asked again, what specific doctrine does this minister embrace that unquestionably makes him a “false” believer? The only thing the critic could come up with was to say that there are videos about the man that prove he’s a false teacher. In other words, backed against a wall she couldn’t even voice the particular doctrine that proved he was a false believer, such as denying Christ as LORD.

An additional criticism of the minister was that he supposedly preached that believers will experience nothing but peaches and cream on Earth. I countered by pointing out how I’ve never heard him say that; on the contrary, he plainly taught that believers will face persecutions and trials — and all the more as you mature — but, thankfully, he also instructed how to overcome by fighting the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).

All I got back was crickets, which is good. The believers on the thread were hopefully ashamed of their faultfinding and penitent.

This article is available in book form as part of chapter 14 of…