{"id":31926,"date":"2022-09-10T15:49:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/10-ways-we-can-make-the-most-of-criticism\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:49:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:49:28","slug":"10-ways-we-can-make-the-most-of-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/10-ways-we-can-make-the-most-of-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways We Can Make the Most of Criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Andrew H\u00e9bert<\/em><\/p>\n

Each summer at Paramount Church, we welcome several summer interns. It\u2019s a joy to see them work together with our team, especially as we walk them through the kind of day-to-day situations church leaders experience.<\/p>\n

I recently had a conversation with our summer interns about how to handle criticism in ministry. Someone once said that compliments are written in sand while criticisms are written in stone. We\u2019ve all be there. It\u2019s rarely fun to receive criticism, but there are certain things we can do to handle it well.<\/p>\n

Here are ten ways to respond to criticism to the glory of God.<\/p>\n

1. Have a Tough Hide and a Tender Heart.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If we\u2019re going to survive in ministry, we have to develop a tough hide while keeping a tender heart. Cynicism can emerge after criticism, and it kills.<\/p>\n

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2. Don\u2019t Take it Personally.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t take all criticism personally. Criticism may be more about the one giving the criticism than the one receiving it.<\/p>\n

3. Look for the Motive.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Try to discern the critic\u2019s motives. There may be a hidden hurt involved. Or, even if if criticism is given in the wrong way, the person giving it may have a good desire at heart\u2014for you or the church.<\/p>\n

4. Look for the Truth.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Look for the grain of truth in the criticism. There\u2019s always something to learn from criticism. Ask God to show you what\u2019s true in what they say.<\/p>\n

5. Spit Out the Bones.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Disregard what\u2019s not true. Hear criticism like you eat fish\u2014eat the meat, spit out the bones.<\/p>\n

6. Stay humble.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Humble yourself because God has something to teach you in every hard moment. How you handle criticism (and conflict in general) is a test of character. It can lead to sanctifying moments in your life and theirs. It can also solidify your credibility as a godly leader\u2014if handled well.<\/p>\n

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See also  5 Steps for Leading Your Church Through Change<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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7. Thank them.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Thank the critic for trusting you with their criticism. If they come to you with a complaint, it\u2019s because they believe you can do something about it. Get worried when they stop coming to you\u2014that means they don\u2019t believe you can fix the problem. Thank every critic.<\/p>\n

8. Grow Through the Learning.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ask God to grow you and make you a wiser leader because of what you\u2019ve learned through the criticism. Sometimes our critics are right and we\u2019re wrong. Ask God to show you this and then teach you how to do better in the future. You\u2019ll be a better leader as a result.<\/p>\n

9. Forgive.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Freely you\u2019ve been forgiven. Freely forgive. If we want their forgiveness when we err, we need to forgive the critic when they say the wrong thing in the wrong way and hurt us. Give them the benefit of the doubt that this may not be their best moment and show grace.<\/p>\n

10. Move forward.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t live in the past and wallow in the hurt of yesterday. Take the criticism, learn what you can, forget what\u2019s hurtful, and focus on what\u2019s next. You can\u2019t drive forward while always looking in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n

ANDREW H\u00c9BERT (@andrewhebert86)<\/strong> is a husband, father of four, and pastor of Paramount Church in Amarillo, Texas.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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The Painful Side of Leadership: Moving Forward Even When It Hurts<\/h2>\n

Jeff Iorg<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community 6 Tips for Navigating Criticism in Ministry <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew H\u00e9bert Each summer at Paramount Church, we welcome several summer interns. It\u2019s a joy to see them work together with our team, especially as we walk them through the kind of day-to-day situations church leaders experience. I recently had a conversation with our summer interns about how to handle criticism in ministry. Someone … Continue reading “10 Ways We Can Make the Most of Criticism”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}