Rick Warren once said “you preach to a parade.”
This means that at all times you have people coming in (joining the church) and going out (leaving the church).
And when people leave, there are times where it’s because their personal preferences aren’t being met.
- Maybe they want the preaching to be different (more topical vs expository), or the worship to be different (less lights and production), or maybe they want small groups to have more of an outreach focus—or whatever the case might be.
- But because things aren’t how they want them to be, they leave. And their departure is a form of criticism against the way you’re doing things.
If you haven’t already experienced your own version of this—all it means is you’re new to staff 🙂
- Unfortunately, if you haven’t already, you will—because this is just a normal part of ministry that’s never going away.
- So the question isn’t: How do I eliminate criticism? Rather, the question is: How do I respond appropriately when criticized?
- You see, criticism hurts, no matter how kindly it’s shared—and it can prey on our insecurities, which often leads us to respond to it the wrong way.
- Well, to prevent that from happening, today we’re going to look to Jesus as our model for appropriately responding to criticism.
And here’s the first thing I want you to note about Jesus’ ministry…
- Jesus always sought God in prayer for direction in his ministry. This is most clearly seen in Luke 6:12–13 (ESV), “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve…” But while it’s most clearly seen here in Luke 6, this is what see all throughout Jesus’ ministry—as he often withdrew to lonely places to pray, that he might seek the Father’s will and direction for his life and ministry.
Ok, here’s the second thing I want you to note: Because Jesus sought direction from God…
- God was always faithful to give it to him. This is why Jesus could say of the works he did that they were “…the works that the Father has given me to accomplish…” John 5:36 (ESV) and why Jesus could say of his teaching that it was “…not mine, but his who sent me.” John 7:16 (ESV) So don’t miss this…Jesus sought God’s will—and then did the things God told him to do and said the things God told him to say. He wasn’t operating independently, rather was following God’s lead in everything he did.
But even though Jesus was only doing what God led him to do…
- He was nevertheless criticized for it.
- He was criticized for forgiving sin. “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 (ESV)
- He was criticized for eating with sinners. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Mark 2:16 (ESV)
- He was criticized for not making his disciples fast more. “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Mark 2:18 (ESV)
- He was criticized for healing on the Sabbath. “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14 (ESV)
- He was criticized for allowing his disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath. “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:2 (ESV)
- He was criticized for claiming equality with God (in terms of divine nature). “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:18 (ESV)
- He was criticized for receiving praise from the people. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” Luke 19:39 (ESV)
- He was criticized for not washing his hands before eating a meal. “The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.” Luke 11:38 (ESV)
You see, the religious leaders wanted Judaism, but Jesus was offering Christianity—so he was criticized at every point where his ministry was different from what they wanted—was different than their personal preferences.
But here’s the question we’re trying to discover today: How did Jesus respond to these criticisms?
- Did he stop eating with sinners?
- Did he stop healing on the Sabbath?
- Did he stop claiming divine status?
- Did he start washing his hands before meals?
- No way! Why? Because Jesus’ goal wasn’t to please men. His goal was to please God. As Jesus himself put it, “…I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” John 8:29 (ESV)
- Since he knew the things he was doing were pleasing to God, it didn’t matter to him that some people didn’t like it—and he just stayed the course with what God had given him to do.
And what a model Jesus’ example is for us.
- Like Jesus, we should seek God’s direction for our ministry.
- Like Jesus, we should do what we believe God is telling us to do.
- And when criticism comes (which it will), like Jesus, we should stay the course—refusing to give in to the temptation to adjust to the personal preferences of others—remembering that our goal is to please God, not man.
Now over the years we’ve had people leave our church saying:
- Mike, you should preach different.
- Now it’s always a bummer when I get feedback that someone doesn’t like my preaching.
- But here’s the deal: I’m not operating on a whim.
- I’ve studied Scripture and let God, through His Word, inform my approach.
- In the OT the priests “…read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.” Nehemiah 8:8 (NIV84)
- And this was the approach Jesus took.
- When we study Scripture, what we see is that: Jesus was a Bible teacher.
- Jesus went throughout all of Galilee “…teaching in their synagogues…” Matthew 4:23b
- Josephus, a first century historian records that there were 204 towns and villages in Galilee and every single one of them would’ve had at least one synagogue.
- And Jesus’ custom was to travel from synagogue to synagogue on the Sabbath Day to teach the people the word of God.
- We have an example of this from Luke chapter 4 where Jesus is in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah the prophet from which he selected a passage to preach on – which was Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus read it to them, explained it to them and shared the significance of it with them.
- This is perfectly in keeping the OT approach to read from the Book of the Law, making it clear and giving the meaning.
- So that’s the approach I’ve taken.
- Now this approach is going to work for some, and not for others.
- But I’m not polling our people.
- I’m not a politician, licking my fingers and holding them up to see which way the winds of popular opinion are blowing. No way.
- I study Scripture, develop convictions, adopt an approach I believe pleases the Lord—and then run with it.
- Since my approach has come from convictions based in Scripture, I’m not going to let criticism derail me.
- My goal is to please God, not man. So I’m going to stay the course in the approach that I believe is pleasing to God.
And this is what you should do too.
- Worship is going to be criticized.
- Small groups are going to be criticized.
- Kids ministry is going to be criticized.
- This is just a part of ministry.
- But when it happens we have to know how to respond appropriately to criticism.
- And if our approach is rooted in Scripture, and comes from a conviction from God that this is how we should be doing it, then the wrong response is to abandon your approach when criticism comes your way.
Here’s what I’m getting at—here’s the heart of the matter…Good leaders make leadership decisions by conviction, not criticism—because this is what we see in the ministry of Jesus.
Now I’m sharing all this with you, because like Jesus, you too will be criticized—and when it happens you’re going to need this biblical perspective—so that you don’t abandon how God has led you in order to capitulate to the personal preferences of those you lead.
Now the thing that’s going to help you be grounded when criticism comes your way is to develop strong, biblically based convictions. And here’s how you do that:
- Study God’s Word. God reveals His will through His Word so always begin by studying Scripture to help you determine your approach.
- Seek wise counsel. God primarily speaks through His Word, but He always speaks through other wise men and women that He’s put in our life. God has put them there to guide us and help us head in the right direction—so you’ll want to listen to their voice.
- Prioritize your professional development. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 3:13–15, “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”
- Pray. Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. I call this my drive and think days. But whatever you call it, these are large chunks of time that are carved out of your schedule to prayerfully think through 1) what you’ve studied in Scripture, 2) what you’ve heard from your wise counselors, and 3) what you’ve learned from your professional development training.
And you should come out of those times with God with a strong sense of what God is calling you to do. And it’s only when you such strong convictions that you can resist the temptation to capitulate to criticism, and abandon the course God has set you on.
So 1) seek God’s will, 2) run in the direction He’s told you to run in, and 3) don’t let criticism cause you to jump ship. Stay the course.