Blessing Your Critics

WHEN JESUS SPOKE in His hometown synagogue, people could be seen shaking their heads and whispering behind their hands.

“Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”

“He’s just a carpenter.”

“Isn’t He the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon?”

“His sisters live right here among us.”

The gospel of Mark says “they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him” (6:3, NLT). Even His own brothers got into the act. In the John 7:2-10 account, I imagine Jesus walking into a room and His brothers suddenly pretending to look grave and serious (all the time suppressing grins and winking at one another). “Well, brother Jesus, don’t You think You’d better show up at this important feast? After all, if You want to be taken seriously . . . if You want to be a public figure . . . You’d better make an appearance . . . circulate . . . talk to the right people.”

John adds that “his brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either” (7:5, MSG). John goes on to say, “Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said . . . ‘he deceives the people’” (verse 12).

Ironically, it was Jesus’ goodness and kindness that got Him into trouble with people. In fact, it frightened them. One village asked Jesus to move on after He healed their town’s most notorious psychotics. Others whom He greatly helped seemed too embarrassed or preoccupied to even turn and thank Him. Many avoided Him for fear of getting kicked out of their synagogues.

But this negative response never intimidated Jesus for a moment. He never backed down. He kept to the furrow He was plowing.

Have you ever found yourself the subject of gossip in your office or at school because of your witness for Christ? Do neighbors whisper behind your back? Have people winced or smiled stiffly at your words of witness and then said, “No thanks”? Have you ever felt left out at parties, or you’re the last to be invited to sit at the “popular” table in the lunchroom? It’s okay. It’s what happened to Jesus many, many times in His earthly walk. Don’t fret or feel intimidated. If Jesus kept to the furrow He was plowing, you must too. After all, you are the servant following in the Master’s tracks.

Do what Jesus did. Bless those who shun you—bless, and don’t think bad of them. Those who reject or disdain you around others may secretly be observing you very carefully. In a time of crisis, in a day of worry or danger or despair, it may very well be you they turn to, rather than their shallow, superficial “friends.”

GOING DEEPER . . .

As for those who try to make your life a misery, bless them. Don’t curse, bless. Share the happiness of those who are happy, the sorrow of those who are sad. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t become snobbish but take a real interest in ordinary people. Don’t become set in your own opinions. Don’t pay back a bad turn by a bad turn, to anyone.

Romans 12:14-17, PH

Since you can’t control how others respond to you, make it your aim to be positive, friendly, nondefensive, and interested in others. Rather than bringing attention to yourself, this will ultimately bring attention to your Lord. Let goodness and kindness be the rule in all your dealings with others, and He will get the glory.