“After 22 years of interaction with this group, I should get used to it. The “Bitter Card” has trump power. Pop that baby out and you can dismiss the criticism. It’s played this way: person A has a grievance that he/she does not feel is being understood. Eventually Person A vents too often, too emotionally, or even sinfully, or gets too close to unsettling the happy delusion of the establishment and consequently in danger of getting too much influence. At this point, play the “Bitter Card.” This puts them on the defensive and in the minds of the clueless guts their argument, plus it has the added benefit in that you can say that their defensiveness is proof of the truth of your claim. Often people who play the “Bitter Card” employ Hebrews 12:15 and warn that the bitterness could result in the defilement of many.

So, let me explain. Biblically. 

It is fundamentalists, not the disgruntled, who have psychologized the definition of bitterness, rather than understanding it theologically. The “root of bitterness” in Hebrews 12:15 could more aptly be applied to the scourge of immorality and the abuses than to the wounded, spiteful, angry, and sometimes over-the-top venting of those who have been “defiled” by it. In other words, friends, the disgruntled are more likely the “many” who have been defiled by the “root of bitterness” in IFB than bitter souls who ought to be dismissed for having a bad attitude”

This is an excellent article you don’t want to miss. Read the rest HERE.

And if you want to read how this applies in a real life church situation, check out Wendy Alsup’s blog article this week, “The Root of Bitterness at Mars Hill Church.”