Responding to Criticism

As a pastor, I have received my fair share of letters and missives criticizing my words or actions. Some have been anonymous, others put their name on it. When the criticism felt unfair or angered me, I always reminded myself of Jesus’ words about how bad it will be for leaders who cause these little ones to stumble. How I responded to their criticism would speak more about Jesus than whatever they were complaining about. I tried to pretend that I was responding to Jesus rather than to the specific (or anonymous) person. I often had other trusted advisors read my response before sending it…