Criticize Me Please

Let's start out by saying we live in a culture of over sensitivity to criticism and what others say, think, feel or act. I like the 7 cardinal rules in life. No it's not out of the Bible but they are still helpful thoughts in going through life. #2 is one that is I am sure most of us would find especially challenging. And if not, well I do.

 That being said we then ought to be more thoughtful of criticism before it is spoken. Just because you have a critique for someone doesn't make you right. We also need to be willing to accept SOME criticism even if we don't like how it is given or from who it is given. There is a lot we can learn that can help us if we are willing to take what is given and not just take it personally. Some of it may help, throw the rest out.

Jesus handled a lot of harsh criticism from people He loved. In fact He has endured it through all time. But I am going to refer more specifically how Jesus handled criticism while here on earth.

What is most interesting is the source of the criticism that Jesus received. It wasn't from other nations, or people who didn't believe in God. In fact His critics were people who claimed a relationship with God or followed God's law. The people who were the "believers" of their day and in fact the biggest critics among them were religious leaders. What you might also refer to as His peers. it seems to me that generally your peers will always be your biggest critics and those closest to you. Jesus even said Mark 6:4 “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”

How Jesus handled this criticism was amazing and it is how we all ought to handle it. Matthew 15:1-20 gives us a look at how He did this.

1Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2“Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” 3Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” 10Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” 12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” 15Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” 16“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17“Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” 

Jesus came back against their traditions and personal ideas of how it should be done with plain simple truth. Their criticism totally missed the heart of God and their religion and personal preferences had superseded God's word. They missed it all together.

 

Also where I want to go with this is recognize the source of the criticism. Those who were truly following Jesus you never see criticizing anyone. They don't blast the religious leaders or the other Jews. In fact those I've seen that those who are after the heart of God do the opposite and they take the criticism to God and learn from it. The criticism came from those who thought they were "right" who were doing the criticizing. They weren't open to hearing that they may be wrong. I recently heard Rick Warren speak about his critics and he said that he walks away from them smarter then them. Why? Because he is willing to learn from them and they are closed off to everything Rick has to say.

vs.10 Jesus said "Listen and try to understand"

Jesus wants everyone to get the truth. The truth here being that it's not what goes in your that defiles you but what comes out of it.

vs.19 Jesus further describes this and it is interesting here what Jesus lumps together. "From the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, slander." It is amazing that slander goes with the rest of those. But Jesus took it seriously and so then we should also.

What is slander? Well it is what "criticism" looks like when we don't do it Jesus' way and talk to others. (Jesus said if we have a problem with someone to go to them one on one first.) The definition of slander is this. "the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation." Yet slander is what we spend too much time in Church doing. Not just in one Church but the Church as a whole. We slander other Church's, we slander other leaders and we slander each other. It's when criticism goes from helping someone to talking about them behind their back to make them look bad that it becomes slander. In fact slander is what the Jews used to get Jesus crucified. It's what they used to end His earthly ministry.

So yes, Criticize Me Please. I am open and available to listen to what you "think" or "believe" I may be doing wrong. Who knows I might just learn something. But slander has no place among those who claim to be followers of Jesus and isn't a good idea for anyone else either. To be honest it just makes you look bad when you slander.