Ties Right In

What I read on Mark Batterson's blog tonight ties right in with some of what I shared last week about receiving criticism. It was right on time. Oh, how we need it to grow, but oh, how it needs to be done biblically to be effective. This is what Mark wrote today:

As a leader, there are times that you need to deflect criticism. I quote something I heard Erwin McManus say all the time: If an arrow of criticism doesn't pass through the filter of Scripture, don't let it pierce your heart. Listen, if it doesn't pass through the filter then you need to ignore it. But if it does, you need to let it pierce your heart.

Every once in a while I'll get a critical email or critical comment. And I don't like being rebuked anymore than the next guy. But I've come to appreciate it because it forces me to look in the mirror. And it's the only way I'm going to grow.

One of the tricks of leadership is having thick skin and a soft heart. But if I'm going to error on either side, I pray that God would give me a soft heart. I need voices that speak into my life. The second a leader thinks they are beyond rebuke it's the beginning of the end.

--Amen! And well said!