I preached a few Sunday mornings back on the subject of sin nobody talks about, and I referred to the sin of worry because worry shows lack of faith in God and doubts and mistrust the wisdom of our Heavenly Father. I want to continue that theme a little bit this morning and talk about another sin nobody talks about, written over in the book of Romans, chapter 2, verse number 1. Now, we Baptists have been categorized and branded for having our pet list of right and wrong. Most people think that if you're a Baptist, that means you don't go to the picture show, you don't dance, you don't drink, you don't cuss, you don't spit in the sink, you don't jaywalk, you don't get a divorce, and you're all right. That's just about as far as their knowledge of right and wrong goes. Well, while there is certainly a lot to be said about this, and in defense of some of these things being harmful and wrong in our lives, there are a lot of very subtle things in the way of attitudes like gossip and criticism and worry and hatred and prejudice and unforgiving spirits that we don't like to talk about. We like to keep them down in our heart and say, well, that's just a part of my personality. I'm just that way. So we categorize some things as being worse than others. But the Bible tells us that there is one sin that we don't even think about being wrong that is very prevalent among Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians and Camelites and Catholics and everybody else. In fact, the Bible says it is inexcusable, not unforgivable, for only the ultimate rejection of Jesus Christ, insulting the Spirit of God's call on your life. The unpardonable sin is unforgivable. But this one is inexcusable. Any grown, mature, average, intelligent Christian ought to know better and ought not to practice this sin. The sin to which I refer is the sin of criticism. Now you say, preacher, boy, I'm glad you're not talking about getting drunk or something like that, because that lets me off. You see, I kind of categorize things, and I don't think criticism is quite as bad as getting drunk. Well, it may or may not be, but it is certainly a sin for many, many reasons. I announced this morning that the title of my sermon would be The Critic. I was preparing to baptize. The chairman of the baptismal committee said, who is the critic? I said, we are all the critics, for we judge ourselves when we stand face to face with this. I stand as guilty as do you. But I hope this morning to point out two or three things why criticism is dangerous, why people criticize, and what you can do to deal with in your life both the problem of receiving and giving out criticism. Over in Romans 2, verse 1, one verse, therefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest doest the same things. Big people discuss ideas. Average people discuss things. Little people discuss other little people. The problem of criticism is enhanced by the fact that the individual who is continually negatively critical of other people is only advertising his own problem and is suggesting by his inference that he has the solution to the other man's problem. But the difficulty with which one views the problem of the continuous habitual critic is only compounded by the fact that advertising his own inadequacies and inabilities and frustrations in attempting to handle his own life, that he who is giving the, quote, quote, constructive criticism is not only unable to handle his problems, but now he's going to tell us how to handle our problem. It seems that I remember reading something about the blind leading the blind and all of them ending up in the ditch. When a man is critical of other people, he is contributing to a very dangerous trend in his own society. The critic hurts himself. He is dangerous to himself. He is harmful to himself. When a man is critical, the individual is advertising that he is constantly evidencing the turmoil within his own soul. The critic says by inference, you see, that I have the solution to your problem. I know what you should be doing. I know a little more about you than you know. And the one who is always critical is crying, whoop, whoop, to such a degree that most people are eventually going to just turn them off. Well, consider the source has been the just obituary over the fallen influence of many a critical person. Then I have found that criticism is dangerous because the truth is never completely told. And half the truth repeatedly told is usually far more dangerous than the whole truth often repeated. If I have found one thing about dealing with people and their personal problems, it is that the whole story is usually never told. When a person is critical about another individual, there are some things they just do not know. They seldom, if ever, have all of the facts true. Now, the Bible tells us that when we are critical, we are robbing ourselves of one of the grandest Christian graces, the grace of being a redemptive factor in a sick society. Many months ago, I went fishing with my little boys up on a lake in Oklahoma and had a strange experience. We hadn't caught any fish, and we hadn't found anything to shoot. So we set out that morning, just determined, I'm sorry, don't you big game hunters come and get on my net. I confess it was wrong. But I was determined that I was going to shoot something if it had to be franked out. So we went out hunting that morning, and after about three disgustingly wearisome and fruitless hours, the last thing that I found coming back to the cabin was a blue jay. Oh, now, I'm a blue jay man, if there ever was a blue jay man. But I figured that the satisfaction of my two little boys was more important than just one more blue jay in the world. So I teed off and let him have it right between the eyes. You know what happened? When that little blue jay came down, being the crack shot that I am at about 15 feet away, I barely nicked him, and so he came tumbling down to the ground, barely crippled. He ran up and started to try to flop away and to fly away. My little boys went chasing them. I didn't even know they were there. But in less than time than it takes to tell it, there were at least 30 blue jays from trees everywhere who converged on the whole situation. And I mean, friend, when you go hunting, there's one thing you don't want to do is shoot a blue jay, or you're liable to end up as blue jay bait. I mean, they came to me like a shot out of a gun. And you talk about the birds. Friend, it was dangerous. I had to grab up my little boys with one arm and fight off blue jays with the other arm and virtually run for my life. They had come to the defense of their little fellow blue jays. One of them was down. One was harmed. One was injured. And it wasn't half a minute until the rest of them converged on me to his defense. My father up in Oklahoma is in the poultry business and has been for 30 or 40 years. I've done just about everything that one does to a chicken, besides eat it in every conceivable form. I have dipped them. I have winged them. I've done all of these things that you've done. I've hypnotized them. Did you ever hypnotize a chicken? Put his wing under his arm? I mean his head under his wing and go like this until he can't move? You know, chickens are the dumbest things in the world. Because you know you can take a chicken and lay its head down flat and put your finger right in front of his nose and draw a line and hypnotize him. And that thing will just sit there and look at that for three or four hours. It won't move. Try it sometime. Well, when I was a kid, we always used to sell a lot of a kind of a medicine in our hatchery up there in Perry, Oklahoma, for cannibalistic chickens. It seems that if one chicken got in an accident or got his tail feathers caught and got winged or nicked some way, and as much as one little drop of blood came from the body of that chicken, the rest of the chickens would converge on him and in cannibalistic -like passion literally pick him to death. And you get cannibalism started in chickens, and a flock of chickens will kill each other in a week. Well, now, you know, there are a lot of Christians in this world who ought to be making up their mind whether they're going to be chicken christians or blue jay christians it seems that i remember reading something in the word of god about if your brother be overtaken in a fault ye that are spiritual pounce on him just eat him alive spread all the gossip you can just chew him to bits and spit him out in little pieces and you know who the worst class of people are in the entire old baptist preacher that's who i just almost as soon not be around a bunch of preachers you let one preacher fall you let one of them get in trouble you let one of them make a mistake and brother did you hear and you know what we baptists do and you deacons and teachers you're as guilty as we preachers are we lie we say did you hear about so and so oh i was so sorry to hear but let me tell you what happened we weren't sorry to hear at all we were glad to hear so we have somebody to pick on for sunday lunch you know that in the assemblies of god denomination they have a board now we've got a lot of baptist committees and agencies and foundations and funds and boards but i never heard of a fellowship board or a restoration board where the assemblies of god have won if a man of god gets run off or makes a boo -boo or gets in trouble the rest of the assemblies of god preachers will send the fellowship committee they will converge on him get around him reinstate him restore him pray for him love him get him back to his spiritual status and help him get started in the lord's work again but not us oh no boy we jump on the chance to have barbecued preacher or barbecued professor or barbecued you let anybody make a mistake and we baptists are the first one to become a bunch of chicken baptists and just jump on him and pick him to death i'd like to see the first baptist church of houston texas be the greatest bunch of blue jay christians in all the world if there was ever a sixth society it is ours if ever the healing balm of gillian from compassionate hearts that care about other people need to be expressed and experienced in a generation in a day it is that way today in our society in your church in your office in your school room in your home you can be kind to those who make mistakes be understanding and gentle with those who do wrong and rather than being a cannibalistic chicken christian that picks them to death consider the source have mercy the bible says and our lord will have mercy on you secondly why do people criticize in the first place will psychologists tell us there are three basic reasons why people criticize i have found in my own limited experience that i think they're absolutely right first of all people who do not really have what it takes to amount to very much criticize those who have accomplished to elevate themselves in their own psychological misery up to the level of those who have accomplished now here's a man who doesn't do much doesn't amount to much and he has a friend an acquaintance a fellow worker who has done more than he now rather than discipline himself and pay the price of accomplishment to make something out of himself to get himself up equal with his fellow man it is far far easier to psychologically cut the other guy down to your side and if you find fault with him bring him down to you it is indeed true that misery loves company and one says if i'm going to be miserable if i'm going to make a failure out of my life then i at least will get some kind of twisted perverted satisfaction by the fact that you ain't no good either and so we can we criticize other people to project ourselves up to their level by bringing them down to us down to us then people criticize to project their own miseries they are merely enjoying the misery of other people things that one is dissatisfied with himself in he is usually not going to be satisfied until he finds somebody who is like him i found a long time ago that one of the best things to do around a critical person is not to say very much just listen to them just be still and let them talk you see what fred tells me about john tells me a whole lot more about Fred than it does about John. When I listen to this man talking about this one, most of what he is knocking in this fella is really a projection of his own misery, his own frustration, his own problem. And if I want to learn how to help somebody, I'm not going to be concerned about what they've come to me with about someone else. If I'll listen closely to them as they talk, they will merely be reading me the story of their own life. We criticize to project into others some of our own miseries and get some kind of a fulfillment in the fact that if I'm miserable, at least there are others who are miserable too. Then we criticize and we project the things that are troubling us. I worry about the preacher who's always preaching on getting drunk. I wonder if this man doesn't really want to be getting drunk all the time himself. A man who is continually riding a hobby horse and finding one major fault with every... I worry about the guys that are seeing communists behind every little book, behind every plot. It's a major attempt to overthrow the government. I wonder about them. We are projecting our miserableness. We are often only announcing the things that are only troubling us. A couple of psychologists were riding an elevator down and one of them just reached over and spit right on the face of the other one. Well, he didn't do anything. The next day it happened again. The next day it happened again. And the elevator girl on the third day said, what about that first psychologist who keeps fitting in your face? What are you going to do about that? He said, oh, him? Nothing. That's his problem. That's his problem. You'll just try to watch. You will usually be able to find out what the other man's problem is. What ought we to do about criticism? How can we handle the problem? Well, if it is true that things that thou dost in others see are the most prevalent in thee, and if it is true that to the pure all things are pure, then it is also true that conversely to the impure all things are impure. There are some people that see a glass of water and it's half full, but most people see it and it's half empty. There are some people you just don't dare want to ask them, how are they doing? They just might tell you. There are some people to whom you say, isn't it a beautiful day? And they'll say, yes, but it was lousy yesterday. Isn't the sunshine gorgeous today? Yes, but I'll bet you it'll be ready before the sun goes down. When you deal with a person who is continually negative and continually pessimistic and continually critical, what are you going to do about it? How should you and I handle the problem of criticism? Well, first of all, listen to it. There may just be a sandwich in the garbage pan. There may be something in there. Now, sometimes my ears turn purple and my blood pressure goes up until I just about want to bust. But if I will not respond to a critic, if I will listen to him, I will usually, when I have cooled down and soberly been able to run through my mind what he has said, many times I will find that in all the garbage there was one sandwich and there was one thing that was helpful. And so listen to your critics. They may, even though offering it in the wrong way, have something helpful to contribute to you. You may learn something. So listen to it. And if there is something helpful in it, then accept it and profit by it and be man enough to say, I was wrong. I appreciate it. I'll do better next time. But if it is, there's nothing helpful in it, then just throw it out with the rest of the garbage and forget it. Men, don't ever answer your critics. Don't ever answer your critics. Jesus never did. Jesus Christ was the most successful man that ever lived. But he was also the most critical man that ever lived. No one was as maliciously alive. No one ever did more right and was accused of more wrong than Christ. No one was ever possessed with more perfection, but yet accused of more imperfection than Jesus. What did he do? Absolutely nothing. He reasoned thusly. And this has always been a motto of my life. Never defend or explain yourself. Your enemies won't believe your explanation and your friends won't need one. Now let me run that by again. Don't ever defend yourself. Don't ever explain yourself. Your enemies won't believe your defense and your friends won't need one. When Abraham Lincoln was leading the efforts to free the slaves, someone started a malicious story that the reason was that he was in reality living in open adultery with a Negro woman. What did the great man do? Absolutely nothing. He said, I'll not explain. My friends don't need it. My enemies won't believe me. So listen to your critics. Profit from them where possible, but don't defend yourself. Jesus Christ defended his heavenly father. He defended his tax. He defended the word of God. He defended his fellow man. He defended the apostle, the disciple. He defended little children, but he never defended himself. Then understand that in this world, you're going to have criticism. That's a part of the game. And if you can't play by the rule, you just as well put a 38 in your head and call the contest over. That's a part of the facts of life. John Hadley, I said, when he was a young preacher, he was very, very sensitive to what people thought. Then he read something that a wise old pastor had said, and it made a difference in his life. And it's made a difference in mine, and it canning years. He said that the pastor had said, son, do your best, be yourself before God, and forget the rest. He said, I discovered a long time ago that if you drive a shiny new Cadillac, people would say, what are you trying to do? Show off? If the pastor drives a worn out Ford, they'll say, what's he trying to do? Embarrass us? And have people in the community think we don't pay him enough? If he wears a black suit, they'll say, what's he trying to do? Look like an undertaker? If he wears a sport coat, what's he trying to do? Show off and look like a movie star? If he preaches an hour and a half, why, why is he so long -winded? If he preaches 10 minutes, they'll say, what's the matter? Didn't he prepare this week? If the public committees start to come, they'll say, what's the matter? Is he trying to move? If nobody comes, they'll say, what's the matter? Doesn't anybody else want him either? And so there's some people that are just going to be critical. Don't get all shook up about it. Listen to it. Keep a cool, calm composure and profit from what is good and forget the rest of it. Now, this is of utmost importance. Remember that criticism is the price of accomplishment. Criticism is the price of accomplishment. No one has accomplished more, physically speaking, than the president of a great nation like the United States. But no man is the object of as much criticism as is he. Frankly, I wouldn't claim my job for his for anything. Not only because I want to be a preacher, but I just wouldn't have that job. I heard after the first election back in the 60s between Nixon and Kennedy, that after two or three months, when Kennedy really began getting it in the neck, he saw Richard Nixon one day and said, you still want this job? I wouldn't want to have it. I wouldn't want to have to make the decision. If you stay in Vietnam, you're wrong. If you get out, you're wrong. If you're going to prosecute the war, you're a murderer. If you forget the war, they stair -step and they come right to your door. What is right? What are we going to do? Either way you go, you're going to have people who will be critical of you. That is the price of success. All through my high school days, I used to read every night our little hometown newspaper called the Perry Daily Journal. Right under it, there were some little words, a slogan that I always liked and it made a great impression on my life. I read it every day for years. It said, if you would avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing. But remember, if you can't take the wind, then stay down here on the grass. But it's windy at the top of the ladder. Criticism is the price of success. He who travels past us must travel alone. If you cannot stand the price of accomplishment of people shooting arrows at you, then get back in the path and be one of the other dogs. But if you start to pull out, you're going to have to travel by yourself and some of your friends will thin out very, very quickly. And those who do nothing will always be critical of those who do much. Then remember that not only is criticism the price of success, but criticism is always a compliment in disguise. Criticism is a compliment in disguise. The best way to denote the fact that you have evoked the jealousy of others is that they are being critical of you. Now there are times when constructive criticism is helpful. Listen to it. Throw out what is not constructive and what is not true and what is not helpful. But far too much of the time, if you'll listen closely, you will find that in their own perverted way, the critic is trying to pay you a compliment. You have evoked his jealousy. You are doing something that he is not. And in his struggle to do something, he finds it far easier to bring you down to his nothing than to bring himself up to your something. It is usually a compliment that he's trying to pay you, that he is aware of the fact that you have done something and that he is not. Now you say, preacher, to love my fellow man, to do what Jesus Christ said, is very, very hard. Listen to what the Master said. Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemy, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. What our Lord Jesus Christ is telling us to do is absolutely impossible to do in the human flesh. It runs absolutely concurrently across the human grain. It is absolutely contrary, that's the word, contrary to human nature. How is it possible for one to throw his arms around his enemies, his critics, those who attack him and say, God bless you, I love you. I remember reading a story about a man one day who was dying on the cross, and he looked down in the anonymous experience of Calvary to those who were hating him and reviling him and persecuting him and crucifying him naked before two thieves in the city garbage dump, and he looked up and said, Father, forgive them, forgive them. And I submit to you that it is possible to have that kind of an attitude in life. It is possible to love your enemy. It is possible that we're free from worry, free from the bitter sting of the critics' arrows, free from malicious hatred, free from the drives and passions that control us and destroy us. It is possible that it is possible. The only way is not in a new course in psychology, but out of the latest current theological jag, or a new philosophy of positive thinking. But unless and until you have been to Calvary, you've had an experience with God where Jesus Christ's blood fell on you in faith, forgave your sins, transformed your heart, and made you able to receive a new nature, and God in Christ came into your life, and you were born again, and he deposited within your being a new heart with new desires and new drives, then it is absolutely impossible for you to have victory in this life. The problems of worry, frustration, criticism, tension, jealousy, all of these things that pile in on us, that make life miserable for us, though we may piously walk around with our list of the so -called bad sins, negatively reported, which we do not do, still, the only way to find absolute fulfillment and peace with God is through a new birth, miraculous experience, where God comes in and instantaneously does for us the imparting of a new nature which is contrary to the old nature. You must be born again. You must receive Christ's life and his power in your heart, and Jesus Christ will enable you to deal with this and every other problem of life. God, shall we stand and pray together? Our Heavenly Father, we pray today, that we have talked about this, one of the little foxes that steals the grave. One of the things that is a constant reality in our church, in our homes, in our city, where all of us are. Though we walk about with our long, class -lived list of what we do not do, we pray, O God, that this sin, in the lives of millions, may be forsaken and forgiven and confessed, and its power eradicated by an old -fashioned, new birth conviction experience. Amen.