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Thursday, October 6

are you a starter or a bench warmer (the critical kind)?




"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt


"Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger." Theodore Roosevelt

w/ in a biblical context/parameter how do you think this sort of thing plays out? for example, make a lot of messes (w/in parameters)- we're cool w/ that. or, scream from the sidelines & talk about how you'd do it better. i'm thinking' that this is heading into a future pet peeve post.

what do you all think about this- relating it to life & service?

8 comments:

digapigmy said...

i think that it means you'll probably mess up along the way. but finding a critic in the man fighting alongside you is invaluable.

georgia said...

Constructive criticism, feedback or encouragement from a friend or mentor should always be appreciated, because you know them and value their insights based upon personal struggles. Mean-spirited name-calling and put-downs are an entirely different matter. Ephesians 4 states that the truth should always be spoken in love.

TimmyMac said...

It all boils down to the motivation of the heart, doesn't it? Having someone who loves you enough to speak the truth into your life, even at the risk of the relationship, is indeed priceless. After all, even when the truth hurts, it's still the truth. But mean-spirited criticisms will eventually come back on the originator. With what judgment ye judge, eh?

David said...

I like to scream on the playing field.

JayBird said...

how much criticism do you think we're truly open to? even when it's a good/trusted friend?

David said...

I'm open to lots . . . from good and trusted friends. I have no time for most of the others.

digapigmy said...

i'm pretty open to quite a bit from people i trust. other people just piss me off.

TimmyMac said...

I've just started reading Blue Like Jazz. The author says, "If you don't love somebody, it gets annoying when they tell you what to do or what to feel. When you love them you get pleasure from their pleasure, and it makes it easy to serve."

God help me to love! I have sooooo far to go . . .