Imagine a sloth, dripping with arrogance, criticising everything around them. It spends so much time talking even the other sloths think it's moving pretty slowly! What does this arrogance achieve?
Do we exhibit signs of slothful arrogance?
In the words of Benjamin Franklin:
'Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain—and most fools do.'
It is an all-too-easy trap to talk about something, come up with critiques and complaints and then do nothing about it. How many times have you discussed criticisms in a constructive forum with a relevant person instead of with a comfortable group of friends whom it is hardly relevant to? These conversations are often a waste of words, achieving nothing, they are rather self-indulgent. It's not easy, but the solution I suggest is to do something about it.
Lazy arrogance
I'm definitely a lazy person and I'd describe this 'criticism without action' as a lazy arrogance. I can think of numerous times where I've given into this slothful arrogance and it hasn't achieved anything, if anything it makes things worse.
Being critical is not necessarily a bad thing, in and of itself, but being critical without action is lazy and arrogant.
It is always important to look for positives as well as the negatives, this helps you keep a balanced view and will allow you to make constructive criticism. This can also be useful for when another person starts bringing up criticism, as you can point out something done well instead of heaping complaints.
The more challenging response, however, is to put in some work fixing the problems you see. In my minimal experience here, this is where you often gain the most appreciation for why the problem exists in the first place.
Sometimes you might be able to fix it, other times you might not succeed after all, but through trying you've put your words into action to help those around you.
What if you can't do anything about it?
Then, as with all of these solutions, don't forget to pray. If it's a problem you think is important you should bring it to God regardless of anything else you do, for he is the Lord and Creator, all things are within his power.
When the temptation to pile on criticism comes, take care to resist falling into slothful arrogance. Do something, whether it is praying, finding positives, implementing solutions, or talking directly to people who can make changes instead of just talking to your friends: stand up out of your armchair and do something!
Sam Gillespie is a postgraduate research student at the University of New South Wales.
Sam Gillespie's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/sam-gillespie.html