One of my favorite quotes is from Teddy Roosevelt and it says a lot about how you look at criticism from others...
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
There is little more annoying than to receive criticism from someone who isn't "in the arena". After all, is it easier to get your hands dirty or to sit back and chuck darts at someone else's work?
The westernized Christian church has done a great job of accommodating believers who'd rather not jump into the arena. Often times it comes from a good place... a place of not wanting to push someone into something they aren't comfortable doing. Understandable, right? Where we often get off-track is in forgetting that our faith isn't something that is content with sitting still; it stirs us to action!
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder. (James 2:14-19)
The analogy James gives brings it all into perspective. Doing some good work for another individual doesn't mean you are saved, but being saved should move you to good works. We must be willing to be more than a bystander, passively acknowledging God's supremacy because even the demons acknowledged the authority of Christ! So what makes us different than a demon? Relationship... a relationship that moves us to act, to love, to forgive, and to move. This is what Christ's love does in your life.
We should be examining our hearts daily and asking ourselves if we are proving our faith through how we talk and act. Love someone who is unlovable and forgive someone who is unforgivable. When a broken world sees these sorts of strange things, they will know we serve a great God.
Prayer
Lord, help us to be more than sideline Christians with hearts that aren't content just sitting back and watching others do your work. Help us to find people in our daily lives who need to see Christ's love so that we might have the opportunity to show them our faith through our actions. In your name we pray, amen.
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