Sermon Archive

Connecting the world of the Bible with the world of today is a fascinating enterprise. Some things are very much the same, and some things are very different. You don't have to go back two thousand years to understand the radical nature of change. I was talking recently with a man in his late twenties about dating practices when I was his age. I explained that boys and girls, young men and young women, dated several people at the same time. I said I went to junior and senior proms with different dates from different high schools, and in college dated several women, going to the movies or to informal dances on weekends.

My listener was amazed and curious. "Weren't you considered trashy?" he asked. I assured him I wasn't and went on to say that if you dated only one person, it was considered "going steady" and implied a serious commitment. He just shook his head and said, "Things sure are different now. You date them one at a time or let yourself in for a lot of trouble."

It was against that kind of background that I read and re-read Paul's words to the church in Corinth. In the verses we just heard Paul reminds the church he founded that he and the other leaders are not celebrities, not of a higher status as Christians than the average church member. He says the leaders or apostles are "stewards of the mysteries of God." In other words, they are to care for and publicize the truth of God's love as their highest priority. They are not to be distracted from their central task.

Paul tells the Corinthians that it is insignificant to him that he should be the object of their criticism or judgment. He says he is not aware of any major failures on his part and that he is willing to leave the matter of judgment up to God. Paul's statements started me thinking about the whole subject of criticism and judgment as practiced in our time and place. It's a very broad subject.

I suspect that for the Apostle Paul the way criticism came to him was by word of mouth. There was no telephone, no telegraph, no newspapers or magazines, no radio, television, or internet. People actually talked with one another, face to face. Conversation was essential for community, essential even for survival. Ideas were debated in the town square, and opinions were shared during meals and at social gatherings. There were undoubtedly certain people who delighted in gossip, collecting and dispensing information about people and events. And there were letter writers—Paul was one of them, and in his letters he named names and gave opinions.

Paul was one of the most influential people in the development of Christianity. He was an amazing combination of keen intellect and spiritual sensitivity. He could also be arrogant and provincial. His letters, especially his Letter to the Romans, have called and re-called the Christian Church back to its central truth—God's unconditional love, freely given, never earned.

For me when I read Paul's letters, I do what I encourage you to do when you hear me preach: take what you like and leave the rest. It's not that I arbitrarily pick and choose among Paul's teachings. I read commentaries, and I read Paul's writings with an awareness of the cultural setting of his time.

I like what he writes about other people's opinions. His writing has to be interpreted, of course, as does almost anything written two thousand years ago, or even two hundred years ago. Paul said he considered other people's criticism of him insignificant. When I read that, I think of all the people I have met over the years who have been emotionally crippled by criticism leveled at them early in their life by parents, by teachers, by playmates, or later in life by spouses, partners, colleagues, or ministers. I think of people who have carried in their gut the pain of being called stupid, or a klutz, or a fag; people who remember with tears being told they would never amount to anything or that they were ugly, worthless, lazy, sinful or evil.

I remember listening to a woman who said all she ever heard at her family dinner table was criticism of other people-criticism of how they dressed, what they ate and drank, and how much money they earned or didn't earn. She resolved never to do anything that would earn her the criticism of her parents, or of anyone else for that matter. So her life became an endless practice of people-pleasing. She could not bring herself to do anything that might bring about the criticism of her parents or other family members, all of whom were in the grip of conservative, legalistic religion. Finally she came to her senses, sought and got professional help. The last time I heard from her she was on the way toward being the person God created her to be, and she is learning that other people's opinions of her are none of her business.

That woman and people like her who have attained some degree of emotional maturity, know that there are times when it is wise to listen to other people, especially to people who seem to be living with a sense of joy balanced with responsibility. In my own life I remember being in a conversation with an older, wiser person, who said to me, "You're not letting me say everything I want to say. You're jumping into the conversation as soon as I pause for breath." I was dumbfounded, but I had to admit the man was right. It was a learning moment for me, albeit a very painful moment of self-awareness. It got me started on learning how to be a careful listener, something I value in other people and want to incorporate into my character.

Formulating opinions and sharing them are very much a part of life. In a world of many nations, no one nation can be so arrogant as to ignore the opinions of other nations. A healthy nation, like a healthy individual, knows when to take the opinions of others seriously and when to ignore them. We are all connected—a reality our present government doesn't seem to understand. As people and as a world power, we need to know how to listen, how to give and receive the considered judgments that are essential to peaceful co-existence. But we need to do that with a healthy sense of self-worth, self-worth that is based on our value as human beings made in the image of God, an identity we share with all other nations and peoples.

Part of our interaction as human beings will always be the giving and receiving of criticism, the making and hearing of judgments. How will you and I exercise that part of our being human? Will we do it in a way that is consistent with our faith?

If we are offering opinions or making judgments, we can do so with regard for truth on one hand and respect for the feelings of other people on the other hand. I said earlier that in the Apostle Paul's time there were no newspapers, no telephones or television—all useful in expressing opinions in different settings. New we have the Internet, and with the Internet we have bloggers. The word blogger gets flagged on my computer's spellcheck. It's a recent addition to our vocabulary, and I get asked by older people from time to time, "What is a blogger, and what is blogging?" (There is an interesting article in today's New York Times Magazine, which I seem to be quoting frequently, about a self-described reformed blogger. I found it fascinating—especially her admission of being addicted to attention.)

Briefly, blogging is putting your thoughts, ideas, and/or opinions into written form and posting them on the Internet. As I understand it, a blog is a website, and what a person writes for that site is a post, although the content may be called a blog as well. I am open to correction on that, but the terminology isn't the heart of the matter. What I notice is that more and more people seem to think they have a right to put into words whatever they want to write about events, issues, or people, and publish their writing on the Internet. They are correct. They have that right. They also think that people will want to read what they write. They are partly correct on that one. An amazing number of people spend a lot of time reading what bloggers have to say.

What cries out for discussion is whether bloggers can be expected to show any restraint in invading people's privacy or in revealing deeply personal and private aspects of their own or other people's lives. The same issues have been raised in connection with the print and electronic media, some of which have standards and others of which clearly do not. For me, I have decided not to buy newspapers, watch television stations, or sign on to blogs that do not respect privacy and traffic in gossip or character assassination.

As for accepting criticism and judgments, I make it my practice to listen to what comes to me directly in face-to-face conversations, and read what comes to me in signed letters, or identifiable emails. The rest I ignore. On this subject I stand with the Apostle Paul. I try not to let other people's negative criticisms or judgments undermine my sense of personal worth. I remind myself that I am a child of God, who loves me and accepts me as I am and wants me to have a full life. Like Paul, I try to be aware of my character defects and I ask for God's help in dealing with them.