Receiving Constructive Criticism Series

The writer of Hebrews uses this very picture of a race to focus on this business of receiving criticism:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

This great cloud of witnesses on the sidelines – what are they saying as we run the race? Are they urging us on, or are they disparaging all we do? Are they cheering or are they jeering? It’s important to discover how we answer that question. It’s important to discover how to receive constructive criticism.

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Let’s begin with those of you who thought you were hearing complaints and criticism as you entered the home stretch. Let’s agree that some folks are more than ready to find fault. Let’s acknowledge that not all criticism is constructive. Not all the sideline shouting is intended to be helpful.

Have you ever been around somebody whose mission in life is to set you straight and put you down? Is there anybody in your life now for whom you are never going to be good enough, never fast enough, never smart enough, never right enough? I had a professor like that back in my engineering school days. He taught organic chemistry – not the world’s easiest subject, as I soon found out. Every exam I turned in, every lab test I did, every report I wrote came back peppered with insults. If I got the chemistry problem wrong, his blue pencil spewed out snide remarks and exclamation points as if there were no tomorrow! And on those all too rare occasions when I got the problem right, there was still something to be snarled at – I showed too much information, I showed too little information. I wrote too large, I wrote too small. When he criticized not only my chemistry, but also my English and my handwriting, I felt he had gone over the top. He had it in for me; his criticism crossed the line and was not constructive.

Now the writer of Hebrews knew that that can happen. He wants us to understand that hostility is real and that we’re going to have critics whether we deserve them or not. He points us to what happened to Jesus:

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Consider Jesus, who endured immense hostility. Jesus did not deserve all the criticism leveled against Him. They complained about his eating habits, they sniped at his choice of friends, they disliked His street preaching, and when there wasn’t anything else to criticize, they snarled about His theology. What was going on? Why did Jesus receive such hostility? No one even pretended that that criticism was constructive. Why did it happen?

Well, there is an important spiritual reality hiding in this little sentence. Hebrews does not mince words about the origin of hostility. It says that Jesus endured hostility from sinners. Hostility comes from sin.

You can be sure that half of the criticism that is heaped on your head comes right out of the spiritual issues that your critics face. You can be confident that much of what passes for constructive criticism is not constructive at all. When someone says, “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but …”, put it down: he does want to hurt your feelings. He does want to make you squirm, because he is hurting about something. He is struggling with the mess in his own life, and because he cannot solve it, he projects that mess on to you.