Altar
Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter
Albritton
March
19, 2017
A unique solution to
the problem of criticism
The disapproval of others can kill you.
So unless you live by yourself on an island somewhere, you must learn to handle
criticism.
Pastors, who may lose their job unless
they “please” most of their people, must find a way to deal with those saints
who resist every new idea because “we have never done it that way before.” Complaints
can rob pastors of much needed sleep.
Bill Hinson was the pastor of one of the
largest churches in America, First United Methodist Church in Houston. Though
obviously very effective and popular, Bill admitted that even the criticism of
a few people was difficult for him to handle. Diagnosed with prostate cancer,
Bill underwent a radical prostatectomy. In the days following his surgery, financial
pressure within his church and complaints against him led to difficulty in
sleeping.
“For the first time in my life,” Bill
said, “I became depressed. I would go to sleep at night, but I would awaken
almost exactly at 2 a.m. and would be unable to go back to sleep.
“I remembered from the biography of Harry
Emerson Fosdick how his inability to sleep had preceded his nervous breakdown.
The more I thought about it, the harder it was to sleep. Two things happened
that made the supreme difference for me.
“First, I found a therapist who happened
to be a Christian. He helped me understand why I could get a hundred letters
that were complimentary and shrug them off, but could receive one that was
critical and take it to bed with me.
“While working with my therapist, I had a
spiritual experience that carried me to another level on my Christian journey.
I awakened one morning, right on schedule at 2 a.m. This time, however, I knew
God was about to speak to me. I did hear God’s voice. Not an outer voice to be
sure, but an inward voice, still and very, very real. God simply said, ‘This
was my church before you were born. This will be my church when you are dead.’
I received that message, turned over and went to sleep. My wife had to awaken
me the next morning.”
Then Bill shared the secret of how he
found victory over debilitating criticism. “That day, and every day since, my
first conscious thought upon awakening is to give myself to God and to inquire
what He wants me to do today to help Him with His church I have been His
associate pastor for the last six years, and it is proving to be remarkably
healthy.”
Bill preached for 47 years but he would
admit that his best years were those years he served as God’s Associate Pastor.
It was his unique solution to the problem of criticism. Bill’s plan may not
work for every pastor but every pastor must find some way to put criticism to
bed so he can get some sleep.
And so must we all. No matter what arena
of life you serve in, you will have your critics. If you do not already have a
good plan for handling criticism, Bill’s plan might be an excellent choice.
Break down what Bill did. He stopped
listening to his critics and started listening to God. Instead of wrestling
with his faultfinders, he began to focus on doing what he felt pleased God. That
approach might just work for any of us. + + +