“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” – The Apostle Paul (1st Timothy 4:12)
At age 19 at the beginning of my junior year in college, I became the pastor of five small rural churches. It was a “circuit” … meaning I would go to a church and preach at 9:00 AM, then jump in my car and preach somewhere else at 11:00 AM. I would go to certain churches on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, and others the 2nd and 4th.
These people liked me a lot, and I liked them. I worked very hard on my messages. But several years down the road I glanced back at some of my old sermon notes. They were not outstanding, and in fact, I thought to myself, “This is terrible!” I said some worthwhile things, but mostly I was astonished at how poorly written they were and at some of the illustrations I came up with.
Then … this revelation came to my mind … these people didn’t like me because of my great sermons, they liked me because I was “me.” I cared about them. I visited them in the hospital. I ate Sunday dinner in their homes. I was sincere and sympathetic. I had the energy of a young person and the desire to make a difference, so they overlooked my poor preaching and lack of wisdom and maturity. Thankfully, only a small minority were frustrated at me because I was young, and yes, there were some.
People may look down on you for lots of possible reasons. You’re too young, too old, too boring, too moody, too organized, too unorganized … or … you make decisions too slowly, you make decisions too hastily, you have too many emotions, you aren’t emotional enough, you’re an introvert, you’re an extrovert, etc., etc., etc.
You would like to hope that people wouldn’t be so critical, but they are. In the above Scripture passage, Paul is putting the initiative on Timothy to solve the problem … “Don’t let anyone look down on you…”
That goes for you and me as well. Paul doesn’t mean for us to go around correcting other people’s critical attitudes and comments. There will always be someone to criticize us. But here’s what he is saying … that we do not have to “receive” that criticism. Instead of trying to fix critical people and resent them until they quit, we should do the healthy thing … don’t get angry, or resentful, or offended … just say, “I don’t receive that judgment into my mind, my heart, or my spirit.”
Once those judgments and criticisms are released, it is amazing how peaceful and joyful life can be. We can actually get along better with critical people, and even love them more, because we have ceased allowing the hurt to enter our spirit.
Blessings,
Chaplain Mark