Get Used To Criticism
June 14, 2005 – 12:32 pm | by Duncan Macleod
Disciples are not better than their teacher, and slaves are not better than their master. It is enough for disciples to be like their teacher and for slaves to be like their master. If people call the head of the family Satan, what will they say about the rest of the family? Don’t be afraid of anyone! Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known. Whatever I say to you in the dark, you must tell in the light. And you must announce from the housetops whatever I have whispered to you.
Matthew 10: 24-27 (CEV)
I’ve been called a few names in my life. I can laugh about a few of them now but at the time they stung like anything.
The first one that comes to mind is “Maggot”. I must have been about 10 years old when I made a snide comment about one of my classmates having the strength of an ant. Now it didn’t help that in reality ants are very strong, capable of lifting many times their own weight. A few guys in my class decided I needed to brought down a peg or two and gave me the aforementioned nickname for the next two years of school. It wasn’t until I got to high school that I could escape the torment.
First day on the bus to high school and what do you know? Someone took a look at my ugly white legs and long hair and picked another humiliating name for me that would last for another couple of years. “Dryball”. Blast. Third year at high school was a lot better. I was in long trousers. Fourth year at high school a few guys decided I might be gay. Wrong they were. But “Dunky” is still off limits as a name.
I learnt through my school years to develop a resilient self esteem that could cope with ridicule or rejection. I’m probably a lot quieter a person now because of the experience. But I hate to think how arrogant I’d be without it. I’ve learnt the hard way about the impact of labelling people with names, brands or put-downs.
I find it very difficult to keep my respect for anyone who puts others down. I’ve worked with a lot of people outside the church and seen more respect for people of faith from these people than from people ‘inside the church’. Sure, we might think we know a ‘dickhead’ when we see one. But it’s another thing to attach that label to the person, in or out of their presence.
Jesus, I must admit, did throw a derogatory names around. Thieves in the temple. Snakes. White-washed tombs. He obviously got mad at religious people like the ten year old me and brought them down a peg or two. I wonder if he was able to connect with his critics in a more personable respectful manner?
Jesus also was labelled and denounced by his critics. He was written off as a drunkard and a glutton who associated with seedy people. A liar. A tool of the devil. A naive man who couldn’t recognise the lustful intentions of a prostitute.
And here Jesus tells us his followers that they could expect more of the same for themselves.
So what’s he offering as a way through all this? Here’s what I think Jesus models and calls us to:
“Poise. Live your lives with integrity, with honesty. Don’t hide who you are in fear of what others think. Be who you are, despite the uneasiness of your detractors. Your commission is not to make people feel comfortable or uncomfortable. You are called to to be clear and clean communicators of everything I’ve modelled and spoken about.”
