Leading Beyond Criticism
Q: When I try to lead, I’m accused of being self-driven. What should I do?
A: Everyone who is called to lead for God will be personally attacked for impure motivations. Though this may initially discourage you, know that you are not alone. Many spiritual leaders today and throughout history share this same experience.
Moses, for example, in Numbers 16 experienced exactly what you describe. He was called by God to lead and yet, Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On, along with 250 other leaders, came “as a group” against him. They attacked him as being arrogant, manipulative and self-driven. They said in Numbers 16:3: “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” Sound familiar? Those who disagree with our leadership gather groups of detractors and come to attack us, cloaking their attack in spiritual language.
When I was in my mid-20s, I pastured a small church that grew from 18 to nearly 100 members. We were seeing people come to Christ in the church for the first time in years and it was exciting. During this time of positive impact, the original 18 in the church began expressing negativity about my leadership. To be honest, there were some problems with the way I was changing the church rather than leading the people through change. But my motivations were pure and the attacks on my leadership were not. After much counsel from godly advisers, I decided to resign and once again, the church turned inward and continued to stagnate and decline.
This reveals a very important truth about attacks and accusations against spiritual leaders—they are a tool of the enemy to keep God-called leaders from fulfilling their responsibility to lead, and to keep churches from fulfilling their God-given mission. The reality is that the enemy doesn’t mind a church that is preserving the traditions of yesterday. But a church that is effectively presenting God’s life-changing truth to people who so desperately need it? That church is a target. So don’t allow these accusations to deter you. Keep leading.
At the same time, it’s important to use these kinds of accusations as motivations for self-evaluation. As I acknowledged in my personal story, my leadership had some significant flaws that I didn’t see at the time.
As a result, I missed the opportunity to better align the way I was leading with my heart. So remember that you too have flaws and one of the most powerful things you can do as a leader is to consistently acknowledge this to yourself and others. When you do, it shows purity of heart.
As we fulfill our call to lead the church, we will face negative and hurtful accusations. It’s important to remember that we’re not the first nor are we alone. Multitudes of godly leaders, like Moses, have experienced the same thing and yet remained faithful to their call to lead. They did it by genuinely playing to an audience of one, and we need to do the same.