Early in his address was a passage that is referred to as "The Man in the Arena."
It begins: 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 them 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.
"It is not the critic who counts."
The job of the critic is to critique, even to criticize. We often call it being the "Monday morning quarterback."
Whether the arena is sports, art, food, or movies, the critic's job is always the same: make careful observations and render his or her opinion of the performance.
Roosevelt would remind us, however, that it is not the critic who counts, but the person in the arena itself.
Jesus was always the person in the arena.
He enters the home of a prominent Pharisee on a Sabbath Day and all eyes are on Him to see if He will dare to heal a man in violation of Sabbath laws (Luke 14:1-6).
The crowd brings before Him a woman caught in adultery to see if he will uphold the law and consent to her being stoned to death for her sin (John 8:1-11).
The religious leaders complain that Jesus doesn't teach His followers to follow the Jewish purification rituals (Mark 7:1-8).
When the crowd in the Nazareth synagogue takes issue with Jesus' assertion that He is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, they attempt to toss Him over a cliff at the edge of the city (Luke 4:16-30).
Jesus was always the person in the arena. He always had critical eyes focused on Him.
So do His followers.
If you as a follower of Jesus have friends, neighbors, relatives, or co-workers who are not followers of Jesus, be assured that you have critical eyes focused on you.
People who don't follow Jesus watch His followers to see how we will respond and react to the events in our lives.
Do we complain about the boss? Do we curse at the computer or copy machine? Do we speak disrespectfully of our spouse? Do we grouse about our children? Do we gossip about the next door neighbor? Do we lie or cheat or steal?
We become the gauge by which people evaluate Jesus and those who claim to follow Him.
As it was with Jesus, so it is with us. We are always in the arena.
Jesus didn't win friends when in the arena. His compassion for the hurting and disregard for religious rules and traditions earned Him the hatred of His critics.
Likewise, Jesus' followers, those who choose compassion over complaint, mercy over malice, and right over wrong, might earn the contempt of their critics.
But they should know what Jesus and Teddy Roosevelt also knew. It is not the critic who counts. Rather, it is the person in the arena.
What are your arenas? And how will you conduct yourself in those arenas? The critics are watching.
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