THE FINE ART OF CRITICISM

We have our likes and dislikes. We have opinions on almost everything: food, sports, movies, politics, other people. The list, of course, is endless. We are critics. It is part of our human nature. We can’t help but have an opinion on almost everything and everyone crossing our path. Most of the time our thoughts, opinions, critiques are personal. We share them with no one.

That is good. If we had to share our opinions on everything, we would never move on. It is enough that we at least have an opinion. It means that we are both observant about what is going on around us and that we have some semblance of care about all that. When we don’t care about what is happening in our world is when we need to step back and ask ourselves why we do not.

Why should we care? Well, is not that one of the main lessons in the Creation Parable? God gave this world and all that is in it over to our care. We are responsible for this world and what goes on in this world and thus we need to care about what is happening in the world in which we live and move and have our being. To not care is to be irresponsible. It is only in caring and having an opinion about what is happening that we can either make changes on the one hand or give our support on the other.

There is a fine art to being a critic, however. A movie critic, for instance, can praise or condemn. Criticism goes both ways. We all like to hear, “That was a fine talk you gave.” Or “What a wonderful deed you just deed.” That, as opposed to “That talk was awful.” Or “How could you just walk away from the person in need and not do something?” The talk may truly have been bad and the lack of Christian concern over someone in need may have been evident, but there are ways to go about criticizing and certainly there must be a good reason for doing so.

When we criticize someone, for instance, our purpose is to help that person recognize that he could have done better. But, again, there is a fine art when it comes to doing so. All we need to understand that truth is to remember the times when others have been critical of something we said or did and how they came across. Did we see and hear the critique as being given to help us or given to simply put us down and make us feel awful?

No one is perfect. At times we all stand in need of corrective criticism. Just as we want to hear the critique through kind and caring and helpful words so we need to do the same when we are the ones offering the advice. If we cannot say what needs to be said in a  kind and, yes, truthful manner, then we had better not say anything. All we will do is make the other person angry.

There is a fine art to criticism. How we handle it will determine whether we have been helpful or simply made matters worse.