On Armchair Quarterbacking

In this digital age, where everyone’s opinion can be expressed, social media is rife with armchair quarterbacks who tear into others without understanding the issues on which they opine or offering viable solutions to the problems at hand. This behavior is not Christlike. Proverbs 18:2 states, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” Armchair quarterbacking entails being foolish in speech by offering uninformed and useless opinions.

A funny story to illumine this point. D. L. Moody was once criticized for his evangelism methods. His reply was, “I agree with you, I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me how you evangelize.” The woman, who had criticized Moddy, replied, “I don’t share the gospel,” to which Moody responded, “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.” As this story illustrates, it’s far easier to offer criticisms than solutions.

It’s fine to have opinions and criticisms. We need to think critically about life. The Bible commands this (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 10:5). Nevertheless, all of us must season our judgements with a healthy self-understanding of our ignorance. We all know far less than we think we know. We must avoid opining about issues we don’t understand. Further, if we don’t have anything constructive to say, it might be best to be quiet. “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent’” (Prov 17:28).

Pastor Chance