No Statues For Critics

I have become the ridicule of all my people—their taunting song all the day.

Lamentations 3:14

The story is told of a young musician whose concert was roundly criticized by the music critics of his day. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius consoled him by patting him on the shoulder and saying, “Remember, son, there is no city in the world where they have erected a statue to a critic.”

Well, there might be such a statue somewhere. But there are surely more statues erected to honor champions and heroes than critics. Yet critics will always be the stone in the champion’s shoe—and they may be found close to home. When the teenage David wanted to go down and confront the Philistine giant Goliath, his own older brother Eliab was his biggest critic. David was accused of being prideful and insolent, of not taking the cost of war seriously.

What happened to David can happen to anyone who wants to be a champion for Christ. Others who are fearful of stepping out in faith and obeying God will try to make themselves feel better by criticizing you. But if God is calling you to step out and trust Him, there is no safer place you can be.

Far better to be criticized by God’s opponents than to disappoint God by not heeding His call.

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most fools do.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN