Staring Down Your Critics Series

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.”