Criticism and the Cross

Over the years, I have tended to be sensitive to criticism. And when criticized, my knee-jerk reaction is to become defensive. However, I have realized that nothing criticizes me more deeply than the cross. It tells me that I am so deeply flawed and corrupted that it required Jesus to suffer death in my place. And yet, while enduring the criticism of the cross, my heart is restored, encouraged and sustained by the strongest possible word of forgiveness, acceptance, and love... through the testimony of the very same cross, WHERE JESUS BECAME THE OBJECT OF THE CRITICISM THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEVELED AT ME! This means that I now can learn from the critical comments of others, since there is usually some truth in every critique. And I no longer have to become defensive, because through faith in the gospel, my identity is no longer rooted to my record, goodness or obedience, but to the record, goodness and obedience of Jesus. So I can be real about the reality and prevalence of my sinfulness, weakness, and need.

I want to be like Charles Spurgeon, who after preaching a particularly earthy sermon, was told afterward by an older lady that he was the most unholy preacher that she had ever heard. Spurgeon leaned over to the man next to him and said, calmly, "And she doesn't even know the half of it." 

Understanding the cross helps me absorb the blow of criticism. After all, if those who criticize don't know even "the half (or even 1%) of it," nothing anyone can say about me is nearly as devastating to my pride and self-righteousness as the cross.  The glorious thing is, that even though I don't know a half of my sinfulness, neither do I know even half of God's forgiveness, acceptance, and love.