There is an old Peanuts cartoon, in which Linus has just written a comic strip of his own, and he wants Lucy's opinion. In the first frame, he tentatively hands Lucy his comic strip and says, “Lucy, would you read this and tell me if you think it is funny?”
In the next frame, you see Lucy patting her foot, and a little bit of a grin comes across her face. She looks at Linus and says, “Well, Linus, who wrote this?”
Linus with his chest heaved out and a great big grin says, “Lucy, I wrote that.”
In the next frame, you see Lucy wadding it up, throwing it to the side, and saying, “Well, then, I don't think it's very funny.”
In the final frame, you see Linus picking up his comic strip, throwing his blanket over his shoulder, looking at Lucy and saying, “Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life” (Rod Cooper, "The Kiss of Encouragement," Preaching Today, Tape No. 141; www.PreachingToday.com).
Some people treat criticism like Linus did. They pick up their blanket and walk away. They sulk and complain. But you can respond differently! Instead of slinking away in defeat, clinging to your security blanket, you can serve God with confidence and boldness.
The question is “How?” How can you go on with confidence in the face of your critics? How can you minister with boldness in spite of opposition? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians 3, where the Apostle Paul tells us how he ministered with confidence despite his critics.
2 Corinthians 3:1-3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (ESV).
Paul’s critics tried to diminish his credibility, because he lacked letters of recommendation. They all had written letters from prominent people, extolling their credentials. Not Paul. He had living letters, the Corinthian believers themselves. Their changed lives were proof of the credibility of his ministry.
One commentator said, “Long ago, Plato had said that the good teacher does not write his message in ink that will fade; he writes it upon individuals. That is what Jesus had done. He had written his message on the Corinthians through his servant Paul, not with fading ink but with the Spirit, not on tablets of stone as the law was ?rst written, but on human hearts” (Barclay).
Mr. Holland's Opus is a movie about a frustrated composer in Portland, Oregon, who takes a job as a high school band teacher in the 1960s. He desires to achieve fame as a classical musician, so he believes his school job is only temporary.
At first, he is determined to write an opus or a concerto by composing at his piano after putting in a full day with his students. But his family demands increase (including discovery that his infant son is deaf) and the pressures of his job multiply. So Mr. Holland comes to realize that his dream of leaving a lasting musical legacy is merely a dream.
At the end of the movie, an aged Mr. Holland fights in vain to keep his job. The school board has decided to reduce the operating budget by cutting the music and drama program.
After 35 years, Mr. Holland returns to his classroom to retrieve his belongings a few days after school has let out for summer vacation. He has taught his final class. With regret and sorrow, he fills a box with artifacts that represent the tools of his trade and memories of many meaningful classes. His wife and son arrive to give him a hand.
As they leave the room and walk down the hall, Mr. Holland hears some noise in the auditorium. He opens the door and is surprised to see a capacity audience of former students and teaching colleagues and a banner that reads “Goodbye, Mr. Holland.” Those in attendance greet Mr. Holland with a standing ovation while a band (consisting of past and present members) plays songs they learned at his hand.
The governor of Oregon, Gertrude Lang, arrives and addresses the room of well-wishers. She was a student in Mr. Holland’s first year at the school, and she speaks for the hundreds who fill the auditorium. Take a look (show video: Mr. Holland’s Opus).
“Mr. Holland had a profound influence in my life (on a lot of lives, I know), and yet I get the feeling that he considers a great part of his life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his, and this was going to make him famous and rich (probably both). But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous. At least not outside our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure, but he'd be wrong. Because I think he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame.”
Looking at her former teacher the governor gestures with a sweeping hand and continues, “Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each one of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. And we are the music of your life” (Mr. Holland's Opus, Hollywood Pictures, 1995, written by Patrick Sheane Duncan, directed by Stephen Herek; www.PreachingToday.com).
The test of your work is changed lives, not the references on your resume. So, when your critics try to put you down…
LOOK BACK AT THE RESULTS OF YOUR MINISTRY.
Consider the people whose lives God has changed through your influence. Put more weight on the living letters than the written letters of recommendation.
Colonel George Washington Goethals was the man responsible for completing the Panama Canal. In the process, he had big problems with the climate and the geography. However, his biggest challenge was the growing criticism back home from those who predicted he'd never finish the project.
Finally, a colleague asked him, “Aren't you going to answer these critics?”
“In time,” answered Goethals.
“When?” his partner asked.
“When the canal is finished” (Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, Baker; www.PreachingToday.com).
Answer your critics with your work, not your words. It’s the most powerful argument you have!
So, in the face of your critics, to move on with courage and confidence, look back at the living results of your ministry. Then…
LOOK UP TO THE LORD.
Find your sufficiency in God. Trust the Holy Trinity to qualify you for the ministry to which He has called you. That’s what Paul did.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (ESV).
Paul found confidence in the Lord, not his own abilities. Paul depended on God the Father, through Christ the Son, as he ministered in the power of God the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word translated ministers here literally means table waiters or servers. It’s the same word used in Acts 6 of the deacons, whom the church chose to serve up food to her widows. Here, Paul’s critics served up the Old Covenant, the Law, which God had written on tablets of stone. On the other hand, Paul served up the New Covenant, a covenant of grace, which God’s Spirit wrote on human hearts, literally, on fleshly hearts.
The penalty for breaking the law was death. And since everyone broke the law, it brought death, it killed everyone.
Warren Wiersbe put it this way: “A legalistic ministry brings death. Preachers who major on rules and regulations keep their congregations under a dark cloud of guilt, and this kills their joy, power, and effective witness for Christ. Christians who are constantly measuring each other, comparing “results,” and competing with each other, soon discover that they are depending on the flesh and not the power of the Spirit. There never was a standard that could transform a person’s life, and that includes the Ten Commandments. Only the grace of God, ministered by the Spirit of God, can transform lost sinners into living [letters] that glorify Jesus Christ” (Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary).
The Old Covenant kills. The New Covenant gives eternal life for every believer. Because in it, God promised to write His law on their hearts, to be their God forever, and to forgive their iniquity (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This was the foundation for Paul’s ministry, and it gave him the confidence to serve despite his critics.
Spurgeon often worked 18 hours a day. Famous explorer and missionary David Livingstone once asked him, “How do you manage to do two men's work in a single day?”
Spurgeon replied, “You have forgotten that there are two of us” (“Charles Haddon Spurgeon,” Christian History, no. 29; www.PreachingToday.com).
Based on these verses from 2 Corinthians 3, I might add, “There are four of us—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and me!” When you work in tandem with the Triune God of the universe, you can accomplish so much more!
In the film My Beautiful Stutter, the producers highlight five people who stutter, including Emily. Emily is a young lady whose father terrified her when she was a child, causing her to run and hide a lot. He eventually left, leaving her sister and her mother, who tried to affirm her every day. Emily always smiled, but never talked, because of her speech impediment. Eventually, though, she came to accept who she is.
In the film, Emily is giving a tour of her room. She has notes written to herself posted around her room that affirm her uniqueness and value. But she spends most of her tour on a poem written by Erin Schick. Take a look (show video: My Beautiful Stutter—Emily):
The barn owl communicates with mates and offspring using a complex system of hissing, screeching, squawking, and facial muscle manipulation.
Survival is dependent on creating a voice so unique it can be recognized by loved ones in an instant.
I argue the cause of my stutter is not neurologic.
It’s got to be something deeper,
Something desperate to be remembered.
This is not a speech impediment.
My voice is an instrument.
My stutter its greatest symphony,
My speech, composed by God (My Beautiful Stutter. Directed by Ryan Gielen, produced by Paul Rudd and Mariska Hargitay, Believe Limited, 2021, 19:39 to 20:47).
Wow! What an attitude! It gave her the confidence to come out of her shell and speak to the glory of her Creator. Despite her abuse, she found her affirmation from God Himself. You do the same!
In the face of your critics, to move on with courage and confidence, look back at the living results of your ministry, look up to the Lord. Then…
LOOK OUT FOR YOUR MINISTRY.
Be careful that you serve up the New Covenant. Take care to feed people the greater glory of God’s grace.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory (ESV).
Paul contrasts the fading glory of the Old Covenant with the permanent glory of the New Covenant. Note: God carved the Old Covenant with letters on stone. God infused the New Covenant with His Spirit on human hearts. The Old Covenant brings death. The New Covenant brings life. The Old Covenant condemns people. The New Covenant makes people righteous. The Old Covenant comes to an end. The New Covenant lasts forever.
When Moses brought the 10 Commandments down from Mount Sinai, his face shown, because he had been in God’s presence for 40 days. His face reflected God’s glory (Exodus 34:29-30), but that glory eventually faded, because it was temporary. On the other hand, the glory of the New Covenant never fades. It is permanent.
I like the way one commentator put it: “Like a candle before the sun the Old Covenant paled and passed away before the grandeur of the New, which is eternal” (Lowery, Bible Knowledge Commentary).
So, if you want to be confident in your work and ministry, build it on the foundation of the New Covenant. Focus your ministry on the greater glory of God’s grace not on the lesser glory of God’s law.
In 1927, the director Cecil B. DeMille cast British-born actor H. B. Warner as Jesus in his famous silent film King of Kings. Warner, who 19 years later played the druggist in It's a Wonderful Life, was kept on a short leash during the filming of King of Kings. Cecil B. DeMille was concerned that any behavior by the lead actor deemed inconsistent with the image of Christ would result in negative publicity for the film.
So DeMille enforced strict measures to ensure that Warner kept up a good Jesus-image. Both Warner and his co-star Dorothy Cumming (who played Mary, the mother of Jesus) had to sign agreements that barred them for five years from appearing in film roles that might compromise their "holy" screen images. During the filming, Warner was driven to the set with blinds drawn, and he wore a black veil as he was delivered to the set. DeMille separated Warner from the other cast members, even forcing him to eat alone every day. Warner couldn't play cards, go to ballgames, ride in a convertible, or go swimming.
Unfortunately, the regimen of rules and regulations didn't make Warner more holy or Christlike. Instead, all the pressure to keep the rules only drove him over the edge. During the production of King of Kings, Warner had a relapse into his addiction to alcohol (The King of Kings Trivia, www.imdb.com/ title/tt0018054/trivia; www.PreachingToday.com).
Rules, no matter how restrictive, have no power to restrain evil. The promise of life in Christ, on the other hand, has the power to transform people from the inside out! So, if you’re struggling to overcome sin in your life, stop relying on your own strength to keep the rules, and start depending on God’s Spirit to make you righteous as he writes God’s law on your heart. Furthermore, if you want to influence people for the better, don’t lay down the law. Instead, point people to the promise of life in Christ.
In the face of your critics, to move on with courage and confidence, look back at the living results of your ministry, look up to the Lord. look out for your ministry that it’s based on grace not law. And finally…
LOOK AHEAD TO INCREASING GLORY.
Anticipate the growing radiance of life with Jesus. Expect the Holy Spirit to transform you into the brilliant image of Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold… (ESV).
The hope of increasing glory made Paul bold even in the face of his critics.
2 Corinthians 3:13 …not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end (ESV).
The hope of increasing glory made Paul bold. The humiliation of fading glory caused Moses to veil his face in shame. It’s a picture of the veiled hearts of his followers.
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed (ESV).
Those who depend on the law stubbornly close their minds. Those who depend on the Lord freely open their hearts to Him.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (ESV).
The Holy Spirit is the God who sets people free. He rescues people from bondage to sin and the law. But not only that, He changes you from the inside out.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (ESV).
The Holy Spirit transforms believers from one degree of glory to another, literally from glory to glory. The tense of the verb indicates a continuous, lifelong process—“we are being transformed.” Literally, in the Greek, “we are being metamorphosed,” as in the process of metamorphosis.
Now, metamorphosis describes the process that changes an insect from a larva into a pupa and then into a butterfly. In the same way, the Holy Spirit justified you when you first looked to Jesus to save you from your sins—i.e., the Spirit set you free from the penalty of sin. Now, He is sanctifying you as you continue looking to Jesus—i.e., He is increasingly setting you free from the power of sin in your everyday life. Then one day, He will glorify you when you see Jesus face to face—i.e., He will set you free from the very presence of sin. The Holy Spirit is transforming you from glory to glory!
Pastor Bruce Thielemann asks us to imagine a colony of grubs living on the bottom of a swamp. Now, every once in a while, one of these grubs climbs a leaf stem to the surface. Then he disappears above the surface and never returns. All the grubs wonder why this is so and what it must be like up there, so they counsel among themselves and agree that the next one who goes up will come back and tell the others.
Not long after that, one of the grubs feels that urge and climbs that leaf stem and goes out above the surface onto a lily pad. And there in the warmth of the sun, he falls asleep. While he sleeps, the [shell] of the tiny creature breaks open, and out of the inside of the grub comes a magnificent dragonfly with beautiful, wide, rainbow-hued, iridescent wings. He spreads those wings and flies, soaring out over those waters, but then he remembers the commitment he has made to those behind. However, now he knows he cannot return. They would not recognize him in the first place, and beyond that, he could not live again in such a place. But one thought is his that takes away all the distress: they, too, shall climb the stem, and they, too, shall know the glory (Bruce Thielemann, “Christus Imperator,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 55; www.PreachingToday.com).
My dear believing friends, you too shall know the glory of being fully and completely like Christ.
1 John 3 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
The hope of future glory helps you overcome the struggles of today.
So, in the face of your critics, to move on with courage and confidence, look back at the living results of your ministry, look up to the Lord, look out for your ministry that it’s based on grace not law, and look ahead to increasing glory. Behold the glory of the Lord and be bold in your service for the Lord.
Remember these words from Theodore Roosevelt (I’ve quoted him several times in the last 12 years): “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, and comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumphs 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 know neither victory nor defeat” (Leadership, Vol. 15, no.3; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, don’t let any critic ever stop you from attempting great things for God.
