Rev. Claudia & Dr. Timothy Emerick
Missionaries of the Cross
I Corinthians 1:18
How to Handle Quarrels
“An arrogant man stirs up dissension, but anyone who trusts in the Lord prospers.”— Proverbs 28:25.
I must not practice the worldly art of self defense. I must take Jesus as my example. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return but committed Himself to His Heavenly Father (1 Peter 2:23). I must not answer all of my critics.
For one thing, there are too many, and satisfying them would take all of my time. For another, my critics may unwittingly be my best friends. Like a mirror, they reveal faults and shortcomings that my blinded eyes might not otherwise see.
I will respond to critics with either thankfulness or silence—thankfulness when they are kind enough to point out areas where I may improve, and silence when the criticism is malicious or mischievous. By silence, I mean silence toward them, not silence toward God. Criticism should always drive me to prayer and to placing the critic in God’s hands. I must pray that if the criticism is fair, I will accept it; and if it is not, that God will defend me.
I must be careful not to line up support when I am under attack. It is so easy to take sides, collect allies, and allow criticism to grow into an issue where battle lines are drawn. To do so is to refuse correction and to lose the benefit criticism can bring. Worse still, it creates an endless cycle of petty charges and counter charges that only feed pride and stubbornness. There may be differences of opinion, but no quarrel is ever necessary. Whenever a rift or schism develops in the body, someone has forgotten to say, “Forgive me.”
Jesus is my perfect example of how to handle criticism, for He went to the cross with a pure conscience. Likewise, I am counseled to “keep a good conscience, so that those who slander me and revile my good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:16).