The Power of Gratitude in an Age of Endless Critique
Photo by Nicole Michalou
We live in an age of endless critique and complaint. This has become the language of our culture and in recent years this has only been amplified by social media and the intensity of our polarized political reality. We live in a time of collective social anxiety, and anxious people seem quick to criticize everything and everyone. It’s almost as if critique is a way of trying to manufacture a sense of identity. If I am not secure in who I am and rooted in an understanding of myself that comes from God’s truth, then naming everything wrong with other people is a way to give meaning to my life. In a time of cultural upheaval, where few know the foundational identity only found in adoption by God through Christ, there is no shortage of people looking for a way to understand themselves. I’m afraid that in the absence of substantive positive identity, greater numbers of people are trying to distinguish themselves by the anger and criticism they mount towards others. I am what I am against.
The internet often feels like a rage machine. Open up Facebook or X, and you may find a few cat pictures and family photos; however, a significant amount of what is posted and shared is negative commentary in some form or fashion, whether it is about a recent consumer experience, school drama, politics, church issues, or the latest judgement from a national pundit. It's endless. I’ll confess this all makes me weary. And as I travel the country working with people in churches all over the country it seems to me that the church has increasingly taken on this culture of criticism just like the rest of the world. Our first move has become to identify what we see wrong in the church, rather than giving thanks to God for his gifts and the things that, only by his miraculous grace, are actually going right even in our broken world. To be frank, if we understand the gravity and depth of human sin, we should never be shocked by what is wrong. That’s the inevitable trajectory of a world run by depraved humans. What if we intentionally gave our attention to any place we see the in-breaking of God’s kingdom and we constantly celebrated the miracle that we can even catch a glimpse of heaven on earth in this lifetime?
To be clear, critique is not always wrong. There are many things in life deserving of close evaluation. And there are times when offering direct critical feedback is the most loving thing to do. But swimming in the cesspool of constant grumbling has more of an impact on our Christian formation than we may realize. 24/7 cable news and infinite access to political punditry on the phone in our pocket has not been good for our souls. Could it be that the endless expression of all we find wrong with the world robs us of the ability to see beyond the negativity? Is there a chance that we have dulled the Christian call to joyful thanksgiving more than we realize? And if we are so saturated with endless critique, might we actually miss recognizing the times when real critique is indeed necessary because it just gets lost in all the noise?
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday this week, it seems to me we would do well, especially in the church, to recover an appetite for gratitude. The old adage says, “You are what you eat.” When we spend our time feasting on endless criticism our outlook on life is inevitably formed through this negative lens. However, when we take intentional steps to dine on gratitude consistently in our lives, it produces a counter-cultural formation that leads us more deeply in the way of Christ.
There is no shortage of material on gratitude and thanksgiving in the Bible. One of the most common refrains of Israel commands thankfulness based on the goodness and faithfulness of God. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:43). The Psalms are saturated with thanksgiving. The New Testament reveals a people saved by grace who are instructed to live in a posture of constant gratitude.
To the Corinthians Paul says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). He instructs the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It’s worth noting that Paul says it is actually God’s will for Christians to rejoice constantly and to give thanks in all circumstances. Gratitude is not just a nice idea. It’s the will of God for your life. We should also remember who is giving this instruction. This is the same man who was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked three times, starved, and thrown into prison on multiple occasions. Paul was no stranger to hardship and persecution; yet, his consistent encouragement to the church is to give thanks in all circumstances. This is a supernatural gratitude only made possible by the Gospel.
Paul’s insistence on thanksgiving comes out of a life perspective firmly rooted in eternity. He writes, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). While his trials were hardly light or momentary by modern standards, Paul could see them as such because he had his eyes fixed on the eternal reward awaiting those who belong to Christ. Gratitude is possible in any human circumstance when you understand the promise of heaven and what Christ has done to purchase our salvation.
Why is gratitude so essential to the Christian life? There are many reasons. Of primary importance is that gratitude is the foundation for Christian worship and worship is at the center of our reason for existence. All of the Christian life comes as a response of gratitude for what Christ has first done for us. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). All worship is responsive in that sense. It’s a response to undeserved grace that was initiated by God. Our response is first and primarily one of thanksgiving. The writer of Hebrews instructs, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” Thanksgiving and worship cannot be separated. The proper response to the Gospel always begins with repentance but inevitably leads to gratitude.
Besides the command to be grateful that is found so often in Scripture, here are a few other reasons it is important to be thankful in the Christian life:
Gratitude combats anxiety because gratitude helps us live with eternal perspective. When we focus on thanksgiving to God we shift our attention to eternal things and away from temporal things. This naturally helps move us away from a place of anxious thinking because it places our concentration on promises that are secure and less on the tumultuous circumstances of this world.
People who focus on gratitude are simply happier in life. I will not go into detail here, but there have been any number of studies that have shown the link between gratitude and well-being in life. Psychological studies have demonstrated that “being grateful is linked to higher levels of life satisfaction, optimism, vitality, helpfulness, empathy, forgiveness, and positive affect.” “Gratitude also reduces feelings of envy, negativity, depression, and anxiety.”
Gratitude forces us to take the focus off of ourselves. Gratitude is intrinsically other-focused because it puts our attention on God or other people, to whom we are expressing our thanks. Focusing on the difficulty of our own circumstances or our feelings of outrage at world events tends to keep us wallowing in our own feelings of despair. Gratitude shifts the locus of our awareness to God.
Gratitude is an essential Christian witness in a crushingly negative world. The world does not need more voices bemoaning or constantly criticizing. Those voices are legion. Voices of true gratitude, however, are less common and tend to stand out. Historically, the supernatural ability to praise God in spite of hardship has proved a powerful witness. It was the Moravians' ability to sing hymns and praise God in the midst of a terrible storm at sea that famously got John Wesley’s attention in 1736 on his way to Georgia. Expressing praise and gratitude to God in the midst of difficulty is a potent witness to a hurting world. It reveals the truth that there is something bigger than our circumstances worth living for.
Here’s the bottom line: Christians should be the most thankful people on the planet. We know the end of the story. We are not ones who live in fear or without hope. No matter how annoyed or upset we may be about the circumstances around us, we know that God is redeeming all things. By his grace, he has made a way for us to experience a taste of heavenly realities now, through the sacrifice of Christ and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is a reason for unceasing joy and thanksgiving!
If our lives are to reflect the truth of the Gospel our primary posture must be gratitude. And if we are going to be people who exude thanksgiving, it will require constant attention and fortitude. Gratitude does not come naturally in a broken and sin-filled world. That means we have to be intentional to pursue it. A posture of thanksgiving requires a choice of will. We live in a swamp of criticism. Gratitude does not come easy. But the cross did not come easy for Christ. The best things are often the most costly. Choosing a heart of praise and thanksgiving is a sacrifice of praise unto the Lord, and it also comes with tremendous blessing! Fighting against the tide of endless critique is a witness to the world of the truth of the Gospel and it leads to a place of greater freedom for your own soul. So, regardless of our circumstances or how negative those around us may be, on this Thanksgiving holiday and every day of our lives, if we have been saved by Jesus, may this be our refrain: Give thanks to the Lord! He is good! And his love endures forever!
Matt Reynolds is the founder and president of Spirit & Truth, a church-equipping, resourcing, and missions ministry based out of Dayton, Ohio. Firebrand is a ministry of Spirit & Truth.