Fault-finding Philosophy.
We do not say that the fault-finder is not a Christian, but he is certainly a very imperfectly developed Christian. He is the slave of an evil habit, of an infirmity of speech that it is his duty to overcome. We have often insisted on the duty of truthfulness, and the evil of exaggeration in speech; the fault-finder is simply a man who has fallen into the habit of exaggerating the evil that he sees about him. He magnifies every disagreeable circumstance in his life to thrice its real proportions, and then puts his thoughts into words for the annoyance of others. Things do go wrong sometimes; work is badly done, and services well paid for are rendered in an incompetent and bungling fashion. It is perfectly right to call the offending person to account, and administer a fitting reprimand for the misdoing. If this is done in the right spirit, it will have a good effect and be followed by amendment. But the habit of finding fault results in the opposite way. After a little, finding that good work as well as bad is criticized, that honest endeavors to please meet no appreciation, the conclusion is finally reached that it is no use to try, and the consequences on the conduct are likely to be bad. The fault-finder defeats his own object, if he can be said to have any object beyond the venting of his ill humor on somebody. A habit that is equally useless and odious, a habit that violates the Christian principle of utter truthfulness of speech, a habit that makes one a nuisance and a burden to one's dearest friends, is surely no habit for a Christian man to cherish, but rather one to be fought against.