Wednesday, 06 July 2011
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Mean Thoughts: Christians in the Blogosphere
By Sharon at SheWorshipsAs some of you know, I wrote an article for Her.meneutics a few weeks ago that incited the rage of my readers. In all honesty, I was utterly shocked by the response. The article, titled How to Talk About Having Children, was not intended to be controversial. In fact, I thought it would go right under the radar as one of the more boring posts of the month. I was wrong.
The post not only generated criticism about my writing and ideas, but about me as a person. And while I have a number of speculations about why people responded the way they did, suffice it to say that it hurt. That was my first real initiation into the brutal side of writing and publishing, and I walked away with a limp.
Since then I have regrouped, picked myself back up, and moved on. But the whole situation gave me a lot to think about as my writing becomes more public. I am sure to receive criticism in the future, so how will I respond to it?
Providentially, I came across a relevant article by Tim Keller this week. The piece was called Speaking with Contempt, and in it he examined Jesus’ words against harboring anger in your heart. What was particularly interesting about Keller’s analysis was his explanation of Matthew 5:22, which reads,
Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
According to Keller, the word “raca” is kind of like the modern-day equivalent of calling someone an air-head. A quiet giggle might have arisen from Jesus’ audience upon hearing such a silly insult…that is, until Jesus ended the statement with judgment. This, Keller speculated, would have caught the crowd off guard. Why such a harsh condemnation against such a harmless action? To this Keller responded with a quote from R.T. France: “The deliberate paradox of Jesus’ pronouncement is that ordinary insults may betray an attitude of contempt which God takes extremely seriously.”
Keller then brought this lesson to bear on Numbers 20, in which Moses strikes a rock to bring forth water. In a show of contempt towards the critical Israelites, Moses struck a rock to bring water from it, even though God had instructed him only to speak to the rock to bring forth water. In response to Moses’ brash sign of anger, God forbade him from entering the Promise Land. Seems a little harsh, right?
Here Keller explains that God was rebuking the orientation of Moses’ heart, not the action of striking the rock. God admonished Moses for the contempt, the bitterness, and the pretension he held toward God’s people. Moses thought he was better than them, and his actions betrayed his arrogance.
This, Keller, points out, is the great danger for Christians who receive criticism. Keller describes Moses’ mistake saying,
“The relentless criticism had made him self-righteous. He held them in contempt. He had wrath but no compassion, and that is the mark of a man who is becoming less like God, not more…Moses is a man who has forgotten grace, and the sign of it is a sanctimonious spirit along with words of denunciation without humility and compassion.”
He then adds,
“All leaders, and especially Christian leaders, must be on guard against this inevitable temptation and this terrible sin. It is natural, when under criticism, to shield your heart from pain by belittling the critics in your mind. “You stupid idiots.” Even if you don’t speak outwardly to people like Moses did, you do so inwardly. That will lead to self-absorption, self-pity, maybe even delusions of grandeur, but the great sin is that the growth of inner disdain leads to pride and a loss of humble reliance on God’s grace. Moses treated God with contempt when he became contemptuous toward his people.”
What a powerful word! I can relate to it all too well. It is easy to protect my heart by tearing down my critics, even if I do so in seemingly harmless ways. I let those minor insults slide as long as I don’t display outright rage.
Yet even the most benign insults betray a heart of contempt, one that spurns the grace of God in favor of self-righteous judgment. And as Keller noted, this mindset makes me less like Christ, not more.
Christians receive a lot of criticism in our culture–some of it deserved, and some not. But how we respond to undeserved criticism is what makes us truly Christ-like. Will we bear the injury, showing grace and mercy instead of wrath? Or will we defend ourselves and attack our critics? Of the two options I know how Christ responded, so for me to respond in any other way is to be remarkably ungrateful for the mercy shown me. What a difficult but strangely beautiful perspective as I journey forward in ministry.
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About the Author
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- From: sheworships
- Name: Sharon
- About Me: Sharon Hodde Miller is a North Carolina girl, born and raised! She is originally from Charlotte, NC, and she received her undergraduate degree and Masters of Divinity from Duke University. Sharon has worked for Proverbs 31 Ministries where she was a contributing writer to the ministry’s daily devotions and radio broadcasts. She has written for Relevant Magazine’s online articles, Lifeway’s Collegiate Magazine, Ungrind Webzine, and she continues to write and minister to women all over the world about being a Christian woman in an ever-changing culture. Sharon currently lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband, who is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Duke Divinity School. If you would like to contact her regarding a speaking or writing opportunity, if you have any questions, or would like to submit a blog topic, please e-mail her at sharon(at)sheworships(dot)com.
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Comments (6)
OK - I went to Her.menutics and read your piece. I also did a pretty thorough review of the comments section. My first reaction is, "The response you received to this piece should have you gathering husband and friends for a celebration!"
Sharon - you wrote a piece for a blog page where 13 people 'liked'/recommended it on Facebook, and a large number of people commented. Of that number, a significant percentage stayed with the topic of your article. They may or may not have agreed with your position or your style of presentation, but that's not the point! The article was read and engendered thought, commentary and dialogue - and that's a good thing!
Now, admittedly, you had some noisemakers in the comments section. As far as I could tell, there were four of them in there who were there to grind their own particular axes.'Barbara' for example, would have found some way to bring up her views on Israel if you article had been on how to cook bratwurst. If they were the 'hurtful' notes you mentioned, forget it; you didn't even figure in the conversation.
There was some critique of your writing style &/or the thought progression displayed in the piece. Great! The reason I've started blogging is to get free commentary and advice from people I don't have to pay, take to dinner or invite to my home for Christmas. You had to PAY in school for this!
One last thing. Forgive me, my friend, but you thought anything having to do with family planning would be uncontroversial and under the radar? Hellloooo!! Whole presidential campaigns are being developed around this very topic, with 'intelligent design' thrown in for color! This should not have been a surprise. And stop that limping! I understand what it is to want to be liked and accepted. Good heavens; in my younger days, I wanted arresting officers to like me! And reading your profile, I supect you've enjoyed a good deal of love and acceptance. But on the internet, and in ministry, if everyone seems to like you - it probably means you're being pretty much ineffective. So hooray for the brickbats! They're listening!
John 16.33:I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’
Lolololol. You consider THAT injury and criticism? Go to 4chan, those comments will basically seem like a blowjob after that.
@ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - So wait, if I go to 4chan, and then go to the website listed above, it'll feel like a blow job?!
@NikBv@xanga - do what you want, I think you're going to have less of a chance getting herpes from me than you will 4chan.
You always have very thoughtful and mature blogs. :)
I like the post and ending of it... but I've been in a place before where I defended myself and my faith but it just made me a mad and angry person.. and I just got red in the face debating people and trying to make them believe that I eventually gave up on the "rat race"... While I do believe that God calls us to tell other people about Jesus I believe that the people themselves have to have an open heart.. Sometimes we may not see any fruit in people but MAYBE it does have a fruit but we have to let God make it grow not ourselves..
I do think Christians are under attack in our culture partly because of what Christianity stands for... What the world says is right and true Jesus or God may not say is true.. and that's why we are hated for Gods sake I guess? Lol because we are of God
But ya.......... If you have critics... its okay eveyrone has a critic.. but if your doing Gods work and know within your heart that your not wrong <3 stand on God and be as nice as possible and if people are wayyyy too hard to deal w/ ... and if your tyring to convert them... I'd say.... Stop trying until they have an open heart lol because your just gonna exhaust yourself but if people are WILLING and LOVE to hear about Jesus theres your opportunity =)