Four Reasons People Attack – Part Three April 16, 2009

Reason #3 – Arrogance

Some people have a desire to be right…and that desire is so strong that they will be allow pride disguised as “protecting Jesus and his church” to manifest in an attack mode.

The problem with many ministries in the world is that the ministry leaders believe that they have discovered the only way to do something.  However, it is so clear from both the Scriptures and the world we live in that there is not just one way to do church.

Jesus in his scriptures is very clear about what our goals should be (evangelism, discipleship, etc.); however he leaves many of the “how’s” to the leadership to the church (under the direction of HIS Holy Spirit!)  In the book of Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 he addressed seven different churches in seven different ways, completely acknowledging the cultural and geographical differences…and yet at the same time ends each message with the GOSPEL…which should be our focus.

One of the things that I always teach here at NewSpring Church is that we do not have the corner on the market when it comes to a movement of God.  We aren’t doing church “the right way.”  We aren’t doing church a better way.  We are doing church the way God called us to do it…and if another church is doing what God has called them to do and people are being reached, lives are being changed, sin is being repented of, the excluded are being included, teenagers are discovering their potential in Christ, marriages are being restored and children are learning about Jesus and so on…who in the world would want to criticize that?  (Answer – satan…just in case you were curious!)

Four Reasons People Attack – Part Two April 15, 2009

Reason Number Two – Misunderstanding.

I have been so guilty of this in my past.  There were times when someone would share with me a 30 second sermon clip or something that someone had told someone that had told someone, that heard it from their cousin  who was in a church service where “it” happened…and I will make a snap judgment based on falsehood and stupidity rather than truth.

One of the problems that exist in church world today is when a person hears a fraction of a story and believes they possess the truth in its entirety, people will always criticize what they do not understand.

So if you are a ministry leader you have got to understand you will be misquoted, you will be taken out of context, you will be misrepresented, you will be misunderstood, thus causing those who do not like you anyway to have more fuel for the purpose of attacking you and tearing you down!

By the way, you waste your time trying to explain yourself.  In reading through the Gospels, Jesus never wasted time trying to explain himself who weren’t going to like him anyway.  The ministry you have over the long haul with do all of the explaining that needs to take place!  Keep your eyes on Jesus!

Four Reasons People Attack – Part One April 14, 2009

One of things that I was not prepared for when I first became a pastor and our church started experiencing growth was the number of people that would publicly come out and criticize the ministry that I believed that God had called me and our church to do.

I’ve been very honest and transparent on this blog about critics, how to deal with critics, and such, however one of the things I have never dealt with here is why do people attack people.  Specifically why do people who claim the name of Jesus feel it necessary to attack others who claim the name of Jesus?  I believe there are four reasons.

Reason number one – Hurting people hurt people.

One of the things that I have personally discovered in having a few conversations with people who felt it necessary to criticize and attack me individually is that many times they were dealing with some sort of personal hurt from their past that they felt necessary to take out on someone who reminded of them of the person that actually hurt them.

If you are in ministry and someone in your church has been abused by a ministry leader at some point in their past and they did not deal with it, they will many times unintentionally begin to take out their anger, pain, and frustration on you.

If we do not deal with the pain of our past it will dominate our future.

Hurting people hurt people and its one of the things and its one of the things we must consider when we know of someone in our church that is continually in attack mode.

When we begin to see this type of person through this lense it allows us to have compassion on them and help them through it…because if someone doesn’t help them they will continue to tear people apart…all “in the name of Jesus.”