Arrows of Criticism
Mar/071
Pastors are targets for criticism. I can whine and bemoan this fact, or I can just accept it. I'm not going to change it, so I might as well accept it.
While you may not be a pastor, you do get criticized. Everyone does. How do you deal with it? Honestly, I go through seasons. Seasons where I deal with it well, and seasons where I don't handle it well at all. (I would like to experience a third season: a season without criticism!) I ran across this quote today and it helped me gain a little more perspective on the whole thing.
"Don't let an arrow pierce your heart until it has first passed through the filter of Scripture." (Erwin McManus)
If someone's criticism passes through the filter of Scripture, I need to thank God for it. It's something that I need to hear and heed. It actually is constructive criticism.
However, if the criticism is not based on Scripture or a Scriptural principle, I need to dismiss it.
If we all followed this simple principle, we'd play a lot more offense for God and a lot less defense for ourselves. We would be proactive for His purposes instead of reactive to other's criticism.
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8:35 am on April 2nd, 2007
That is a great quote. I totally relate with sometimes taking hard criticism well, and other times taking little criticism horribly. I think for ministers it just wears at you sometimes to the point that you can't take anymore until you get refilled. And we need to make sure and refill our confidence through scripture and positive affirmation daily.