Last October, rap artist Curtis "Voice" Allen performed at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis at the invite of Pastor John Piper. He writes in Boundless Webzine about the harsh criticism he received from some Christians who saw a video of the performance. Here's an excerpt from the article:
Now how did I get from anger and judgment to encouragement and gratitude? It was through the cross of Jesus Christ. Let me explain.Read the whole thing.
The Holy Spirit brought to my mind a 1999 Journal of Biblical Counseling article called "The Cross and Criticism," by Alfred Poirer. The article pointed out that Christ's death on the cross criticizes us more than anyone else ever can. The fact that Jesus had to die for us to be forgiven indicates that we are a lot worse than we think.
"In light of God's judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God's criticism of me in Christ's cross, I can face any criticism man may lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has. And the most devastating criticism turns out to be the finest mercy. If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness, defensiveness, or blame-shifting."
In other words, whenever you receive correction or criticism, look to the cross and see the ultimate critique of all you have done. Nothing we do apart from His Spirit is ever motivated by a love for Him or a desire to please Him (Romans 3:10-12, John 15:1-5). Even after salvation and our desire changes, at best our motives are mixed. This is humbling, I know. It is offensive to our pride.
The Lord also worked on my heart as I was beginning to write an angry e-mail to my critics. He showed me that I am not morally superior to them. He reminded me that I have slandered others and gossiped about others many times. How was I any better than these people? I could almost hear these questions, audibly, in my head. The Holy Spirit convicted me of my self-righteousness.
(HT: Between Two Worlds)
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1 comment:
I read the whole article. Holy crap. I honestly thought those Christians were dead! I grew up in that atmosphere, and I thought those types of people were extinct. How sad. How very, very sad. It makes me so sad to see people misusing God's word so badly!
And what a response on his part! Wow! It was so different that I'm not sure I even agree with it yet...
Thanks for the post Nate. I have been meaning to comment on the last post but I'll just combine it into this comment. Corrin and I have been chatting recently about criticism and how unbelievably incapable the average person is in receiving it. It blows me away each and every time I come across someone who is purposefully blind in order to ignore valid criticism.
That's a truly unique and new way of looking at the cross--and I like it. Pride is such an issue eh? wow...good stuff Nate.
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