Tomorrow night is the big game: Memphis vs. Kansas for the NCAA National Championship in basketball. I didn’t get to see Memphis beat UCLA, but I watched Kansas play North Carolina. Wow! What a game!
UCLA made the Final Four, but doesn’t get to advance to the final game. But they have been there many times. Former coach John Wooden, who turned 97 last year, was once asked his opinion of retired Texas Tech and Indiana coach Bobby Knight. Wooden would only respond, "I think Bob Knight is an outstanding teacher of the game of basketball, but I don't approve of his methods. But I'm not a judge, and I'm not judging Bob Knight. There is so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us, it hardly behooves me to talk about the rest of us."
I think he understands what Henry Kaiser once said, "When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt."
Wooden has shown us what a legend looks like. He not only was a gentlemen on the court, he holds records that may never be broken. His 10 national championships, his 88 game winning streak, his phenomenal winning percentage, the players he groomed for stardom in the NBA - this is his legacy; he has no reason to add the title of "outspoken critic" to the list.
Yet it seems that so many are constantly critical, always criticizing others. In all our lives there are those who might be deemed "worthy" of outspoken criticism. But we have to choose: We can criticize, or we can care; we can lament or we can love.
The Bible says: You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. (Romans 14:10)
It’s not my job to criticize (although like many, I’ve become good at it. God, please forgive me.) I’d like to encourage you to strive toward leaving a legacy built, not upon our estimation (or criticism) of others, but upon our own measurable accomplishments. In other words, criticize less, do more. That’s what a legend looks like.
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