Just thought I’d share a few reflections on the news coverage we’ve received in recent weeks. The article in the Washington Post continues to spawn news stories. The latest is a visit from NBC News and The Today Show this past weekend. They filmed during our 9 AM service @ Barracks Row and we interviewed for about an hour afterward. The story is scheduled to air on Easter Sunday.
First of all, I’ve always believed that the good news ought to make the news. We ought to be making enough of a difference that it cannot be ignored. By definition, a true expression of the gospel is newsworthy! If you have enough compassion, enough faith, enough joy–in other words, if you become more and more like Jesus–you will be unignorable. Not sure if that’s even a word, but I like.
Second, I don’t think it’s coincidental that all of this is happening during our 40 day experilent with II Chronicles 7:14. We’re hitting our knees everyday humbling ourselves before God. When you get on your knees, you essentially get out of the way of what God wants to do! Favor is the natural or supernatural byproduct.
Now here are a few candid thoughts.
We live in a culture that overvalues 15 minutes of fame and undervalues a lifetime of faithfulness. I could care less about 15 minutes of fame. In fact, news coverage complicates things on a personal level. It attracts opposition from those who are opposed to our message. It riles people up and the net result is frontal attacks from those who are adamantly opposed to Christ. I would expect nothing less. What is painfully disappointing, however, is that it seems to have the same effect inside the camp. And the enemy just laughs while we throw stones at each other. If we could convert that sideways energy into forward motion, I’m convinced we could win the world for Christ.
The upside of news coverage is that it puts our church on the radar. It brings visitors. It creates conversations. The newspaper article is creating opportunities to share my faith with people. At the end of the day, the only acceptable and desirable outcome is God’s glory! If God can leverage a news story, so be it. Bring it on!
The downside of news coverage is this: the target on your back gets bigger. That is the price you pay. It’s easier for people to take shots at you. That is true of writing as well. Writing a book is like taking your heart out of your chest and exposing it to the world. It’s an incredibly vulnerable experience. The trick in all of this is cultivating a thick skin and a soft heart. Not easy. You have to care less and less about what people think and more and more about what God thinks. After all, you will only stand before one Judge. Live for the applause of nail scarred hands!
How do I handle criticism? I obviously process it to see if it’s accurate. No one is above rebuke! But I don’t just consider the criticism. I consider the source. Far more important than the content of the criticism is the spirit of the person who is criticizing. Is it delivered in love and gentleness? Or is it delivered in jealousy or anger or pride? There are a handful of Pharisees who seem to believe that criticism is their spiritual gift. In those instances my advice is this: thou shalt offend Pharisees!
Now here’s the key to figuring out whether to repent or rebuke: don’t let an dagger of criticism pierce your heart unless it passes through the shield of Scripture. If it does, repent. If it doesn’t, shake the dust off your feet.
A few more observations.
Even unfounded criticism has a way of keeping you humble. It counterbalances the compliments. Just don’t let it give into your spirit. Go ahead and chew on the criticism, but don’t swallow it whole if it’s unfounded. Spit it out.
One of the verses that memorized coming in 2012 was Proverbs 19:11: “It is to the glory of a man to overlook an offense.” If you don’t overlook the offense, you’ll get defensive. That’s when you stop making a difference! You quit playing offense and start playing defense. You stop leading and start reacting!
The only way you aren’t going to offend someone is if you do nothing! Of course, then you are offending God. I decided long ago that I just don’t play defense! I don’t have the time or energy to defend myself. Plus I have an amazing Advocate who acts in my defense. I also have the Paraclete who’s got my back. If I focus on God’s reputation, I figure God will take care of mine. I wonder if that is what the Psalmist meant when he said, “The Lord is my Strength and my Shield.”
I don’t play defense. Life is too short. God is too good.
There are some battlefields I’m not called to die on.
No leader in history was more attacked than Abraham Lincoln. I try to live and lead by a motto he coined: “You can please some of the people all of the time; all of the people some of the time; but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
Listen to my leaders: there is always a bell curve! You can come down from Mount Sinai with stone tablets inscribed the finger of God and 16% of the people will still resist you. It’s the categorization of adopters! For what it’s worth, 16% will drink the kool aid because they are early adopters so be careful lest you put a millstone around someone’s neck!
I’m not sure who said it first but it’s so true: may our gifts never take us where our character cannot sustain us! One of my prayers is that God would not bless me beyond my ability to handle it. If I’m going to mishandle it I don’t want it. But if God can be glorified, bring it on!