Leo Tolstoy became a Christian at about 50 years of age.
He provided the excellent statement below in regard to those who would be critical of his choice to follow Christ, critical of how he was walking the path of the Christian life, and critical of Christianity itself:
Attack me… but attack me rather than the path I follow and which I point out to anyone who asks me where I think it lies. If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side?
If it is not the right way, then show me another way; but if I stagger and lose the way, you must help me, you must keep me on the true path, just as I am ready to support you. Do not mislead me, do not be glad that I have got lost, do not shout out joyfully: ‘Look at him! He said he was going home, but there he is crawling into a bog!’
No, do not gloat, but give me your help and support.
–Leo Tolstoy
What excellent advice for us all.
1. Do not attack Jesus and Christianity for my poor example of following Him. I never claimed to be the Perfect Savior, I just claim to follow Him.
2. Attempt to point out the right path to everyone who asks – attempt to point out where the path lies – the path the Jesus set before us.
3. Keep walking the path that Jesus laid out, even if you do a bit of staggering along the way. Keep making forward progress, even if it isn’t a perfectly straight line.
4. Help others walk the path well. When they get off the path, help them back onto it. Do not mislead.
5. Do not celebrate the misfortunes of others, don’t celebrate the errors they make as they walk the path. We are so competitive that we are often inwardly happy when something negative happens to others. That is not walking the path well. Do not gloat, do not take any joy that someone else has stumbled or is lost.
6. Give your help and support to all others – to those who are not yet walking the path, point it out to them. To those who are stumbling on the way, support them so they walk without tripping. To those that are walking the path well, let them be a support and an example to you.
Walk the path that our Perfect Savior laid out for us – it is the Way!