2 Timothy 4:14-15 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
It is obvious from this passage that Alexander did not like the apostle Paul. In fact, he made his ministry and life very hard at times; opposing and twisting Paul’s words with every chance he got. Critics often work like this, they spend their time on you; “getting you” becomes their main objective and chief purpose in life. How do you deal with this kind of person, someone that is always twisting your words and opposing your good works?
I see several lessons in that passage that teach us how Paul lived above his critics.
1. Paul Put It in God’s Hands: Paul said the Lord would “reward him” for what he does to me. Give your critics to God; let God work out the details of the situation. Often times, when we are dealing with critics and criticism, our biggest headaches ironically do not come from the criticism, but from our “hair pulling” efforts to get back at the critic or in defending ourselves. Again, let God work out the details.
2. Paul Never Slandered a Critic, He Took the High Road: We never see Paul bashing his critic. The only thing he does here is warn other believers about this potentially poisonous snake in the grass. But no where do we see Paul going into detail and going out of his way to publish the details of the situation. If Paul had Face Book, Blogs or other Social Networking capabilities, he would not have waged a “Word War” with his critic. Criticizing a critic only reduces you to their level, take the High road with Christ.
3. Paul Knew the Critic was Really Opposing God: Paul said Alexander attacked his words. By this, Paul is referring to the gospel message he preached. So in fact Alexander was opposing God’s words that he gave to Paul to preach. Jesus told us that people would hate us because they hated him first and that because we endorse Christ they would oppose us. Don’t take criticism personally, develop tough ministry skin; be tender enough to love people but tough enough to take the critics. Don’t be easily offended and quit, keep on keeping on for our Lord.
4. Paul’s Pure Testimony Limited His Critic: Notice in vs. 14 that God is going to punish or deal with Alexander because of his “works”. This shows us Alexander was a man of bad deeds worthy of punishment. But in verse 15 the only thing Alexander had against Paul was his “words” This shows us that Paul lived above reproach. His enemy did not have any legitimate dirt to call him out on. Alexander could not criticize Paul based on his works, he could only twist and oppose his words. Critics may lie about us and twist our conversations, but if we live a godly lifestyle they will only have their “made up version” of who we are to criticize. The rest of the world will see the truth that we live out before them day by day. Live holy; don’t give critics something to talk about!
Jason M. Myers 