The Poison Of Critical Comments

The Poison of Critical Comments

No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

James 3:8

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, April 26, 1986, routine maintenance was in progress at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the northeast corner of the Ukraine when an uncontrolled power surge raced through reactor No. 4, producing steam and hydrogen, which culminated in a massive explosion. A mile-high nuclear cloud hovered for ten days, releasing its nuclear rain.

In the summer of 1993 I (Les) witnessed firsthand the devastation this accident brought to this region and its people, and it’s stayed with me to this day. On a humanitarian assignment for World Vision International, I was sent to Chernobyl to help those whose wounds had not been amenable to physical healing. I walked around in an abused landscape that will require many thousands of years of healing. I talked with suffering children. I listened to their desperate parents. I met with courageous doctors, and I saw what life was like in Chernobyl’s “Dead Zone.” Things will never be simple and uncomplicated again for two million residents of Belarus.

Reflecting upon my experience in Chernobyl’s contaminated region, I have come to a fresh realization: as soil and air are poisoned by radiation, so the human heart and mind are poisoned by critical comments. Today’s verse says that the human tongue is “full of deadly poison.”

Verbal toxicity, however, is often dispensed in subtle forms. We sometimes camouflage our criticism, for example, in humor. We’ve already discussed trying to wriggle out of cruel statements we’ve made by saying, “I was only joking.” Or we shoot a poisonous dart with “helpful” advice that is actually meant as an artful put-down. Sometimes we withhold our attention to express our disapproval. As a Yiddish proverb says, “If you’re out to beat a dog, you’re sure to find a stick.” Regardless of its form, criticism poisons the human spirit much like a nuclear disaster poisons a landscape.

The next time you feel prone to offer a critical comment, resist the urge and try to replace it with a genuine word of support instead. While this may be challenging, the results will be ample reward.

All parts of the human body get tired eventually—except the tongue.

—Konrad Adenauer