Comments on: Criticize By Creating

By: mel

mel — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:27:55 +0000

thanks for sharing this. i attend a small town southern baptist church that has some awesome things happening, but is so bogged down by people like your emailer that i am at the point of dreading church. i serve on that “awful” praise team that leads in “terrible” music and is going “to cause a church split” (said by a deacon as we walked down the line at a church meal). and it is just “not right” that the choir does not sing EVERY sunday. and can you believe that our drummer actually wore a tie–what was he thinking he never wears a tie he always wears jeans and a tee(said by another deacon). and yet another deacon stopped us in the hall before worship one sunday to tell us that his sunday school class hates “our” music. we nicely said that it wasn’t “our” music. . .

anyway, i am at a point where i am struggling to want to go to church. thankfully, i found your blog and your podcasts (i am a college friend of jenni catron), and i guess it just helps to know that those criticizers are everywhere…

By: Jeff Goins

Jeff Goins — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:55:18 +0000

Love this, Pete. It’s so much harder to criticize when you’re actually doing something. Sounds like great things are happening at CrossPoint (hear about the new church campus). Congrats.

By: jan owen

jan owen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:28:07 +0000

Isn't it amazing what people will focus on in order to avoid perhaps listening to what God might have to say? Focusing on dress, gender, even mannerisms etc are all- in my opinion - avoidance tactics. Which is sad. Sometimes it can be very hard to keep moving forward when we're hit with criticism so I pray that you will be blessed with encouragement today Pete. jan owen’s last blog post..Worship Confessional - When God Takes Over

By: Ladybird

Ladybird — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:34:17 +0000

Nate's comment ROCKS! Keep on snapping Pete! And keep dressing snappy too! Ladybird’s last blog post..Lovin' From Aunt Lauren

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:00:17 +0000

Quote from Evelyn Christenson book: "Remember, after you do enough dissecting(criticizing-my thought), you no longer have a flower." Diane’s last blog post..Stewing My Thoughts

By: kristiapplesauce

kristiapplesauce — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:45:31 +0000

I think it would be easy for me (like so many here) to back you and say "la la la you are so fabulous" because that's what I think but the other first thing I thought of when I read this was how fixated he or she must have gotten when they viewed your sermon. You know when you (me) are in the middle of something and you are trying your hardest NOT to deal with your own garbage, and you sift and sort and blame and point...all trying not to pay attention to your own crap? Maybe that is what this person was doing. I have no idea because I "feel" like I am projecting, but as soon as I read this (my third first thought) was that "dang, how many times do I nit-pick and tear somebody down, rather then show love?" CRAP! I suck. kristiapplesauce’s last blog post..Shake it.

By: PJ

PJ — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:00:13 +0000

I worked in youth leadership for a church in Phoenix for 7 years and one in Atlanta for 5 years before that, during that time I learned that when working in leadership, you often have to endure harsh criticism. A church that I met with here, when I first moved to Nashville, had a really smart way of dealing with criticism. Any time someone came to the leadership with a complaint, the leadership engaged them and asked how they could help the complainer take the steps to “fix” the problem. In this case, it might have been to ask the complainer how the church could support them establishing a ministry to help reform finger-snapping preachers. I know this example is overly-cheeky, but such a method invites them to “complain by creation” and put the solution to the “problem” into the hands of the member. In the Army, there was a saying, “If you see it a problem, you own it.” What I’ve learned over the years is that those who “see problems” the most are often the least likely to do anything to help fix anything, they feel their value is best served on the sidelines offering color commentary. I say this as someone who often finds himself actually being the one who is the big complainy-pants. It may not be the finger-snapping, but I have a list

By: The Secret Life of Kat

The Secret Life of Kat — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:41:32 +0000

I just wanted to pop in and say how impressed I am by your response. That email bugged me and it didn’t have the littlest bit to do with me. I don’t even go to your church or live in Nashville!

Thanks for being a leader and not simply a reactor. I’m inspired to be more gracious in the face of criticism.

By: Chere

Chere — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:12:19 +0000

Oh my, that made me laugh. Sadly, it sounds just like the church. We're so quick to focus on the silly details that make no difference, instead of the *message*. Reminds me of a church I went to back in the day...I was in the worship band and the church spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a fancy electronic drum set because they kept getting complaints that "the drums were too loud!" {and they already had a BEAUTIFUL expensive drum set}; this was after completely changing the services so that the early was "traditional" and later was "contemporary" so people didn't have to be offended by the music. In the end, the new drums sucked, the church wasted hundreds of dollars it could have better used to serve *people* and those who complained just found something new to whine about - like the size of the pencils in the pews or the font in the bulletins. Chere’s last blog post..substitution

By: Randy Wood

Randy Wood — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:10:59 +0000

The Prez at the college I attended 137 years ago always said this in chapel and i still use it today..... "We will do one of two things in Church, we will worship or criticize those who do" Thanks Pete, We love ya in Arkansas!!! (GO HOGS!) Randy Wood’s last blog post..Living Beyond Ourselves