Tag Archives: examples of criticism

DEALING WITH CRITICISM

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.  Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

“Careful,” he said, “CAREFUL!  Put in some more butter!  Oh no!  You’re cooking too many at once.  TOO MANY!  Turn them!  TURN THEM NOW!  We need more butter.  Oh no!  WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER?  They’re going to STICK!  Careful.  CAREFUL!  I said be CAREFUL!  You NEVER listen to me when you’re cooking!  Never!  Turn them!  Hurry up!  Are you CRAZY?  Have you LOST your mind?  Don’t forget to salt them.  You know you always forget to salt them.  Use the salt.  USE THE SALT!  THE SALT!”

The wife stared at him. “What in the world is wrong with you?  You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?”

The husband calmly replied, “I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving.”

Criticism.  We’ve all experienced it.  Sometimes it is justified, sometimes it is not.  But none of us like it.  No one enjoys being told they are doing something wrong.

Guy Woods has written, “Inasmuch as criticism is inevitable, we must, in order to be happy, acquire an ability to rise above it.  He who is overly sensitive to the opinions of others is at the mercy of every gossiper of his acquaintance.  Some folks purr like a kitten when stroked by praise; but when criticized, they become resentful, discouraged, and quit.  It is highly essential that everyone discover a technique for dealing with the adverse opinions of others, and use it regularly and effectively.”

Let me offer several brief bits of advice when you are criticized:

(1)  Expect criticism.

Realize that the more active you are, the more criticism you will receive.  There’s an eminent British cabinet officer’s wife who is said to have kept this embroidered motto on their living room wall:  “To escape criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”  Who catches the criticism?  It’s the ones who are out there in the middle of things with their sleeves rolled up.

(2)  Criticism can serve a useful purpose.  Learn from it.

Recognize that some criticisms are certainly deserved.  Even when critics are unkind and when they exaggerate our failures, there may still be some truth in what they say.  So, when faced with criticism, we need to look at the situation honestly and ask these questions:  Is it true?  If so, how can I overcome the condition that caused it?  If not, is there something I can do to eliminate future criticism of the same type?

“The ear that hears the reproof of life will abide among the wise.  He who disdains instructions despises his own soul, but he who heeds reproof gets understanding.” (Proverbs 15:31-32)

(3)  Having gotten any benefit we can from criticism, we need to forget it.

There are times when people will criticize you and the best thing you can do is just to keep on serving God.  We’ve got to accept the fact there is no way that unfair criticism can be dealt with.  In a lot of situations, the more you may attempt to answer criticism, the worse the criticism becomes.

Paul said, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court.  In fact, I do not even judge myself.  For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but he who judges me is the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

As we receive criticism in our lives, may God help us to be honest enough and humble enough to look into our hearts and make changes that are necessary, and gracious enough to ignore that criticism which is unfair.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Criticism

I recently heard the following quotes. The first person said, “I live around the corner from a Kroger but I rarely ever go in there.” The second replied, “Almost none of the Kroger brands are worth buying.”

Was I listening to disgruntled shoppers or a competitor of Kroger? No. I was listening to two Kroger employees criticizing their company to a customer in the middle of a busy store.

What were they telling the people who were hearing them? They should be shopping elsewhere. If we enter a restaurant and an employee meets us at the door and says, “You shouldn’t eat here. The food is lousy.” What would we do? Most likely, we would leave.

If it were our names on the sign and these were our employees, how we would feel? We were likely spending a lot of money on advertising that we could hardly afford and they were chasing hard-earned customers away.

A negative public perception of a business can destroy it very quickly. People usually have options of where they can shop, so we must be careful not to alienate them.

If this were true in terms of business, why would it not also be true of the Lord’s church?

If we are criticizing the Lord’s church in front of other people, why would those who hear us, ever want to attend the Church?

If retail stores do not get enough business, they may close and people will lose their jobs and all that that entails. Yet, if the same thing happens to the Church, souls are lost!

Almost all of us have been guilty of criticizing the church in front of non-Christians. We need to repent and never do so again.

God has ways of dealing with problems between Christians (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 6:1-11). We must remember that and stop dragging these problems into the streets. A discussion of doctrine is another matter but we must keep it on the doctrine rather than on person. We must be careful not to be bring shame on the Lord and his church in our diatribe.

Maybe we need to renew our understanding of what the Church is and to whom it belongs. The Church is Christ’s body, purchased with his blood (Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 20:28). It bears his name and must be delivered in its purity back to God in the end (1 Corinthians 15:24). The Church is the “bride of Christ” (Revelation 21:2,9).

A man who was insulting the local congregation would likely be ready to fight if someone insulted their wife. Yet, they see no problem insulting the Bride of Christ in front of Jesus?

We need to remember that we are all ambassadors for Christ (Matthew 5:14; Ephesians 4:1). God depends on us to take the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:20).

Let us always be respectful of the Church. People are listening very carefully to what we are saying. Let us praise the Lord rather than impugn his body.

by Richard Mansel @ www.forthright.net