The Right Way to Criticise

Welcome to Leadership Talk! In today’s Pastor Priji educates us about ways to bring out criticism. It enables us to understand how significant criticism is in leadership.

Tune in for a Biblical perspective on the right way to criticise!

Leaders are not just those who are preaching or influencing mass numbers but also those who influence at least one person. There is none of us who is not created to be a leader. Everyone in the image and likeness of God is called to be a leader and have dominion and influence around them. Praying that in this season, we will imitate Jesus and be attentive to what He is speaking to us so we can do our leadership in a manner that will bring worship to His name. Productivity should not be our sole focus as leaders. Sometimes we may be driven by results or outcome, it is not bad to desire these but that can become a stumbling block or an idol and sometimes on the drive to become more productive and effective, what we try to do is we give up on these principles that God has taught us on becoming the leaders that we are today.

In Jeremiah 28, Jeremiah meets another prophet. When two people are in pursuit of the same call or race, at times it is natural to see one another as a competition. But this case was not so with Jerimiah instead he was humble before Hananiah. This shows the characteristic of a Godly leader. Our goal is to be Godly leaders that carry the heart and mind of God. The Bible shows us Jeremiah humbled himself nevertheless, in a few chapters before that Hananiah spoke a word contrary to what Jeremiah said and he could have attacked him and asked why he spoke something else but then He went on to say let it be so. This is where we see him as different from Jonah, Jonah was upset when he knew His prophecy would not come to pass. At the end of that chapter, we see God telling Jeremiah that Hananiah was wrong and not from God and Jeremiah had to re-emphasize the word of the Lord to the people.

In this story, there are so many leadership qualities Jeremiah showed here even though these sayings were against his teachings. Even though he was older than this prophet, He accepted the Prophet who spoke contrary and agreed with it but the only time he would stand against it would be if God was to speak contrary. We cannot pick a fight because of an opinion difference or because somebody is not like us or have the same traditions or way of serving God as we do. In this season the Church has become more divided than ever before whereby many of us who claim to be disciples of Jesus are doing everything possible to pull others in the same body of Christ down. If we would have to point fingers against anyone, we must do so with surety that God is giving us a prophetic Unction and grace to so because if we are not doing it under a prophetic grace then that will be a withdrawal from God covering. Our criticism of someone else is born out of a superior understanding of who we are. And the moment we begin to criticize then we are making room for demons to fight us. As a prophet, when you have a prophetic word from God, there is special protection and now it’s no longer speaking as one who is jealous of another prophet but under the grace of the office of an apostle or a Pastor over another land. As leaders, we have to be conscious that when somebody is trying to contrast or conflict with us we should not pick up a fight. We must also understand that it is okay to take a stand when there is a contrary word from the Lord. It is necessary that as leaders we keep the revelations that we have from God about our lives and especially about the projects that we are involved in. Whatever the project maybe it is necessary to hear the voice of God and His voice takes prominence. It takes a genuine leader who understands the voice of God and how to hear from God to stand strong in the midst of contrary voices. A leader is not defined by his effectiveness or productivity alone but in the Kingdom, your success depends on your ability to hear the voice of God. It is necessary that if we would want to be leaders we should constantly pursue a lifestyle of and inquiry what God is speaking per season.

It is necessary that we submit to our Spiritual leaders, Government authorities, Family and culture that we are placed in and yet when the voice of God comes and gives us a revelation or perspective that our physical or natural environment allows, it is okay to let go of all those other voices to say yes to the voice of God prioritize it above every else’. It is necessary that there will be more than a few people that will be in agreement with what God has spoken to us. Jesus when He talked to the Pharisees, He stated he was in agreement with His father and He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that what He was speaking and doing was ordained the father and that is why He was bold with breaking the rules of the Sabbath. When we are fully convinced or clear beyond doubt that this is what God is saying, then we can take a step but if there is a little bit of doubt then it is better to wait and receive help or instructions from leaders and then take the next step. We should remember that the voice of God needs to take prominence in our leadership and in doing that we have to do it with all humility and not be judgmental. As men and women of God who are called to be Godly leaders, it is necessary that even when we disagree with people, we do so with love and genuine care for those with who we disagree. How often do we have experiences with people who do not want to support us, hurt us or refuse to be on our side? Do we still pray for these people or stand in the gap for them? In this season we have to also grow in our ability to respond, treat and serve like Jesus when He was here on earth. As a child of God, the enemy will do everything to provoke us, put us to the edge and make us think highly of ourselves, but in this season because we see ourselves as Godly leaders, we need to strengthen ourselves and live a lifestyle that will bring glory to Jesus. When people look at us they should be able to see the love of God and see the personality of Jesus through our leadership.