Jesus and Criticism

Excerpt of an unpublished interview with John MacArthur from The MacArthur Center for Expository Preaching

Because he is willing to stand for truth, John MacArthur has received his fair share of criticism throughout his ministry. Yet he’s endured for more than 55 years because he understands what a biblical, mature response to criticism looks like. A couple of years ago, he shared what he’s learned about responding to critics with Austin Duncan, director of the MacArthur Center for Expository Preaching. Portions of this conversation were aired in episode six of the MacArthur Center Podcast’s second season. That episode is titled “MacArthur and the Critics.” Below is a section of the interview we couldn’t include in the episode. In this previously unpublished excerpt, Pastor John talks about what we can learn from Jesus’s ministry about responding to criticism.

Hostility comes from honesty. If you hide the message that people need to hear, you can survive for a while, without hostility and animosity. But if you're going to speak the truth, you’re going to be criticized. In Jesus’s case, he was hated from the get-go. No sooner did he launch his ministry than he was engaged in a battle with the Jewish leaders. Some might say he should have seen this as a great opportunity to win these guys over. Thank them for all they’re doing for the widows. Thank them for all they’re doing to promote the morality of Judaism. Thank them for being sensitive to the need to worship God. Instead, he calls them snakes and asks them who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. He pronounced a curse on them the first time they were confronted by him.

Jesus understood that criticism is inevitable. If you try to avoid the criticism of the ungodly, you will inevitably be criticized by the godly. Or you can avoid the criticism of the godly by affirming what they know to be true. And the ungodly are going to hate you, just like they hated Jesus. There's no middle ground. If you're in the middle, you're going to lose both sides. You can't wander around the middle. If you do that, you will have compromised yourself to the degree where you're useless. You may have a big crowd, but you're useless in a definitive way. So criticism is inevitable.

I often go back to the words of the Apostle Paul. He said it’s a small thing what men think of me, whether they are godly or ungodly. I'm really concerned about a much higher tribune than that. And that's the court of heaven. So I'm happy to have God render the verdict on my life. And I'll wait for the day when he reveals the secrets of the heart. And then shall everyone have praise from God.

Probably the best question Jesus was ever asked was in Mark 11:28. The chief priests, scribes, and elders ask him “by what authority are you doing these things or who gave you this authority to do them?”

Now obviously, these religious leaders were challenging Jesus. But the question they ask is a question that has to be asked of everyone who offers himself as one who speaks truth. By what authority do you say those things? And I always want to go back to the Bible. That way I can always say to anyone who criticizes me that their argument is with the Bible. If your ministry is not grounded in the Bible, you are making it so the criticism is about you. But if your ministry is about Scripture, then any criticism that comes at you is actually about the Bible and you will be able to withstand it and endure it because it’s not about you, it’s about something far stronger than you: God’s Word.