Jesus welcomed notorious sinners who listened to His sermons—He even ate with them, “but this caused complaints from the Jewish religious leaders … because he was associating with such despicable people” (Luke 15:1-2, Living Bible). Jesus had already prepared for the causing of a complaint saying, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for this is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26, NIV)
And the flipside of negative complaints is flattery, which is just as dangerous. Flatterers look like friends, as wolves look like dogs. It is a dangerous moment when an egotistical person comes in contact with a flattering tongue. Jesus recognized both!
But what shall be our approach to those that criticize and complain about us? Well, Charles Spurgeon gives us some wisdom. He said, “Welcome an enemy who will watch you keenly and sting you savagely. What a blessing such an irritating critic will be to a wise man, what an intolerable nuisance to a fool!”
And we remember that the bitter enemy who tells us the truth makes a contribution more than the friend who tells us what we want to know. Our critics are also our friends for they are the first to tell us about our flaws and failures. And when people say negative things, it may come from a true friend who tells you when you are wrong early enough to stop before it’s too late. Almost everyone tells you when you are right. And remember, “A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down,” said Arnold Glasow.
So we see the two in contrast—condemnation of us and flattery heard by us. Martin Luther deals with both, “I had rather that true and faithful teachers should rebuke and condemn me, and reprove my ways, than that hypocrites should flatter me and applaud me as a saint.” After all, both slander and flattery should have the same effect. It should drive us to our knees and into the arms of our heavenly Father.
There are two comments that are borderline funny as we journey on in service to God. The first is from Percy Ray, “When people kick us, it is sometimes a sign that we are in front of them!” And the second a bit more serious yet witty, “If we were not strangers here, the dogs of the world would not bark at us.” Samuel Rutherford said that!
Again the contrast: If we were not prideful, we would quickly recognize and dismiss flattery, and if we were not somewhat deserving of verbal attack, it would not irritate us! To feel that we have to quickly defend ourselves for a critical comment is like trying to remove a spot with permanent black dye.
After all, no criticism of us is totally untrue. The wise person is saved by unjust criticism, the unwise are destroyed by unjustified flattery. I once read Gordon MacDonald’s comment about this, which I fully agree with: “I have seldom ever heard a criticism about myself that did not indeed contain a kernel of useful truth.”
A man with a clear conscience can sleep in a loud thunderstorm of a long night of the harshest criticism. A good and godly man says in the midst of the booming noise, right is right, if all the world is opposed to it, and wrong is wrong, if all the world applauds it!
The world stones the prophet, but the next generation takes those same stones and builds a monument in their honor; that’s the nature of the human race. True servants of God often received more smelly mud thrown at their face than shiny medals put on their chest! Even if we were guiltless, that, in itself, would not guarantee we would never hear people criticize us. And let’s remember what we once were told, it will do us no harm if the criticism is false, but then if it’s true, we need to do something about it before we are destroyed.
It always helps to remember, people who complain about things in us are speaking of things most often evident to them. And then it was Dale Carnegie that first was credited for saying, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—and most fools do!” And sadly, the truth is that a young person who is prone to criticize often survives life to become an old person that criticizes! We can easily recognize a person prone to complaints; the important skill is to avoid becoming that person yourself.
Finally, sweep things to the side and see what was true in Jesus. Very few things are more difficult to endure and not criticize than the constant annoyance of a godly and good example of something better. No wonder the Bible says the godly will suffer persecution.
A desire to disgrace other people has never, ever come from a heart full of grace.
Our challenge is to live such Christlike lives that our most vicious critics discredit themselves by their comments because no one believes them; and yet, we are not promised that we will be treated fairly if we wholeheartedly love and faithfully obey the Lord.
There was a longstanding plot against Jesus that grew more and more sinister as the days turned into months. God protected Him, yet the destiny of His life was a cross. Any time we suffer unjust criticism, simply realize that Jesus understands your experience to the fullest extent. And in the end, that’s more than enough.
Comments