Study in theActs of theApostles

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Coping With CriticismChapter 11v1-18

IntroductionNoel Coward, the playwright, when commenting upon some of the remarks made about his plays said, "I love criticism just as long as it is unqualified praise". None of us like being criticised. Sometimes it's because we don’t like admitting we’ve been wrong, sometimes it’s because we feel we’ve been criticised unjustly and sometimes we simply react to the unhelpful manner in which the criticism is made. Criticism is a part of life and as such it is inevitably a part of church life. We cannot escape it but we do need to learn how to deal with it. Whether we are cast in the role of critic or the criticised the passage before us has much to teach.

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Understanding The CriticHow are the dynamics of criticism unpacked in our passage? In Ch.10, we saw

that the work of God had made a giant leap forward. As Peter had preached the gospel to Gentiles in Caesarea the Spirit of God had fallen upon them

transforming their lives. However, Peter’s actions met with considerable criticism from some within the

Jerusalem church. And so when Peter got home he could have expected a long queue of people waiting outside

his door.

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Understanding The CriticBefore we’re too hard on these critics we need to understand them. Peter had initiated change. He had done a ‘new thing’. He had cut across established lines of behaviour and practice. His stay in a Gentile home signalled that, ‘There was no barrier between Jewish and Gentile Christian, that they were of equal value to God’.

God’s work is always moving in new directions and, we need to allow opportunity for the humanity, limitation and hesitation of many of God's people to catch up. It is not easy to accept change! Some minds and emotions can change direction quickly but others take longer.

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Understanding The CriticThe introduction of change often makes people feel vulnerable and insecure. Think of the many changes that have taken place in the past 100 years. Sociologists tell us that the major contributory factor to the insecurity experienced by many in society is the ‘rapidity of change’. Today, the elderly generation remembers writing on a slate at school children; today children correspond by e-mail. When people are emotionally bonded to the past it becomes difficult for them to get out of the rut in which they are stuck and to accept change. This was how the church in Jerusalem felt regarding this new step forward giving rise to mounting criticism.

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Understanding The CriticCriticism can be profoundly intimidating. For this reason many people refuse to suggest change or to involve themselves in it. And as a result God’s work can be brought to a standstill. Concerning a fear of criticism, John Henry Newman wrote,

“Nothing would ever be done at all if a man waited till he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it”.

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Understanding The CriticSome people are paralysed by criticism. Others close their ears to it, refusing to listen to their critic’s comments. Thankfully, Peter does neither. On another occasion, he would accept reproof from Paul after behaving inconsistently [Gal.2v11-21].

Criticism can be valuable and we must never be afraid to test ourselves by our critic’s words. We read in Prov. 27.6, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend".

However, on this particular instance the criticism directed towards Peter was ill founded and unworthy.

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The Danger Of CriticismWhat were the characteristics of the criticism Peter faced? ‘He ate with Gentiles’, v2. It seems so petty in the light of what was accomplished. Large numbers of Gentiles had been brought to faith in Christ. But the critics clutch to the tiny thing that disturbed them. Criticism is often like that, selectively focusing upon those things in others that annoy and disturb us? And by so doing we exclude what is good and praiseworthy. Very quickly a sense of perspective can be lost. Years ago a church split over what they considered to be an important issue, should the piano stand on the right or left hand side of the pulpit?

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The Danger Of CriticismA second dangerous characteristic of this criticism is that it was essentially destructive and discouraging. Peter had just been through an emotional wringer. He returned from an exhausting missionary trip to find that the first item on the agenda was criticism of his behaviour. It’s easy to be negative when what is needed most is encouragement. To tear someone down demands no skill but to build someone up, most certainly does. Guard against the sort of criticism that has as its sole aim, the dismantling of another person’s character or the bruising of their emotions. Constructive criticism must be corrective not vindictive, its aim must be to heal and not harm.

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The Danger Of CriticismA further characteristic of this criticism is that it failed to secure all the facts. The critics did not stop to ask, why Peter acted as he did or consider what motivated his behaviour. It is easy to be drawn into a culture of criticism that runs others down because we have not grasped the issues involved.

Such appetite for criticism often betrays a reluctance to criticise ourselves. We are so set upon sorting others out that we become blind to our own deficiencies. Jesus made this point using scathing humour of a man with the log in his own eye wanting to remove the speck of dust from another’s eye.

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The Danger Of CriticismSomeone has said,"the critic who starts with himself will have no time to take on outside contracts."

Indeed, we often uncomfortably discover, that the very things we most fiercely criticise in others are the things that are unresolved issues in our own lives.

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The Danger Of CriticismHow did Peter cope with his critics? He began by recounting the facts. He explained all that happened. This sounds so simple but is important because a great deal of criticism is uninformed or misinformed. Did his critics, know for example, about the vision God gave in order to deal with his own anti-Gentile prejudice?

It is a common human failing that when we criticise others important information is often filtered out in order to make the criticism appear more heinous. In response to criticism Peter begins by recounting the facts. It is a good example to follow.

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The Danger Of CriticismSecondly, Peter points to the reasonableness of his behaviour. He had not entered this new phase of the work lightly. Originally he too would have had reservations about contact with the Gentiles! But when he received his vision from God he understood that it was God who was initiating a change of direction. He therefore felt obliged to stand down lest he found himself challenging God cf.v17. That made perfect sense.

Peter’s inference is of course that his critics should also stand down and take note of what God was doing, lest they too be seen to be opposing God.

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The Danger Of CriticismMartin Luther the German reformer was accused of tearing the church apart. The transcript of his defence is marked by reasonable argument. He wanted the church to make the word of God its rule of faith and not its long history of tradition. On that ground he stood, for he could do no other. He was following the example of Peter, it was enough to know that he was being obedient to the light that God had given. He would persevere in that direction because he was convinced it was God's way forward.

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The Danger Of CriticismPeter's critics were open to change and responded to the wisdom of his defence. They must be commended for that. Danger exists when the mind of the critic remains closed and refuses to be convinced by any kind of evidence.

We must not imprison the Holy Spirit in past tradition. This was the point of Jesus’ enigmatic words concerning the folly of putting new wine into old wineskins. Change the metaphor, those who bind themselves to past tradition and who refuse to move from their present track can soon find themselves in a disused railway siding rather than on the mainline of God's advancing purpose.

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ConclusionThe path of criticism is fraught with danger. We need to examine our motives and ensure that our objectives are pure, before we allow the development of criticism in our hearts. We need to have more than a filtered version of the facts at our fingertips. When sure of all that and convinced that we are driven by love for the weak and the wayward and by a desire to restore them, then our criticism is more likely to be welcomed as ‘the faithful wound of a friend’. But we need also to pray for the restraint of God’s Spirit when our criticism is not sourced in a concern and love for God’s people, God’s honour and God’s work.

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ConclusionWhen on the receiving end of unfair and unwarranted criticism then we must learn to bear it patiently and to make a reasonable defence of our belief and practice. For by so doing we may win over some of our critics, who are open to reason, or better, whose eyes God has opened that they might understand the actions and motives of our hearts.When all is said and done we live our lives to please God and our obedience brings him great pleasure. No one received more criticism from men than did Jesus and yet The Father said of him, “You are my Son,whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3v22

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