{"id":5848,"date":"2022-08-01T05:52:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?p=5848"},"modified":"2022-07-31T11:24:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T17:24:20","slug":"critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/critics\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s to all the critics: Try to find some joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

We live in a cynical world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just look at the level of snark, distrust and complaint at every level. The political stage is ugly, but it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0stop there.\u00a0The online world is full of anonymous typists who spill destructive words by the millions. I\u2019ve received a few myself.<\/p>\n

Civility is a lost quality, as people push in front of others in lines, zip from lane to lane on freeways, and freely curse complete strangers.<\/p>\n

I have worked with a self-appointed critic, a hopeless cynic who sees no good in anything. To him, every policy was a plot. Every direction was misguided, and every conversation was double-sided. He thinks he\u2019s a realist. Everyone else thinks he\u2019s a drag. What a miserable life.<\/em><\/p>\n

I got an e-mail from a professional church critic, who blasted my church for its insistence on evangelism from the pulpit. \u201cWelcome to temple worship in America,\u201d he writes, \u201cwhere leaders love presiding over anything to bring people into their temples and love basking in the glory of conversions.\u201d<\/p>\n

My pastor pours his heart over the church and in humility, does what he can to lead this difficult flock of sheep. He\u2019s not a perfect shepherd. But I\u2019m a terrible lamb.<\/p>\n

I have a relative who is part of a hate-church cult, where they point out excesses in the body without ever having to actually be part of one. From a satellite\u2019s view, it always shows a distorted, fuzzy image. But get close, and in many places, on any given Sunday (or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.), lives are being changed.<\/p>\n

I admit, there\u2019s plenty of misplaced passion in modern Christianity. But I can\u2019t focus all my energy on what\u2019s wrong, because I might just miss what\u2019s right. I can\u2019t answer for every televangelist or every person in the pew who is there for show, or every church leader with selfish motives. All I can do is be obedient to the world I\u2019m in, follow Christ the best I know, and leave the others to answer to God.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Creative Commons via Unsplash, by Velizar Ivanov<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It starts with me<\/h3>\n

I could pick out a dozen things to focus on for improvement at home, work, or church. If you look, it\u2019s pretty easy to find incompetence at every level. There is greed, sin, and misplaced priorities everywhere. With folded arms, I could be that guy.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I have my own cynicism to root out. I too easily lob complaints against political groups, causes, and individuals. I don\u2019t think the federal government is good for much. I don\u2019t understand middle-aged men who ride Harleys.<\/p>\n

But every day, I\u2019m trying to find 10 gifts<\/a> from God, counting my blessings one by one. I\u2019m beating back the dogs that try to drag me into the pile of smelly garbage\u00a0for a good roll.\u00a0I\u2019m chasing out the\u00a0cynicism\u00a0under my own roof with a broom of hope before it has time to breed.\u00a0I\u2019m finding others who see life as a blessing and shouldering up to them, hoping some of it rubs off.<\/p>\n

This critic\u2019s choice is \u2026 joy.
\n\u201cFinally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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