A pastor who's a client of ours has the largest church in his city. Recently, the local paper did a major story on the church, and although it was pretty positive, when the story was posted online, he was shocked at the number of really vicious and nasty comments from numerous anonymous online posters. (Isn't it interesting that the worst comments are always from people afraid to identify themselves?)

He asked me, "What about the critics? That's hurtful stuff." His wife told me how upsetting it was, and how challenging it is living in the public eye. They asked me how they should deal with criticism: "Do you just develop a thick skin and not care anymore? We don't want to get to that place, but we have to admit that constant sniping and criticism can wear us down." ... read more

There have been some interesting conversations on this blog lately about criticism of different people and organizations, and the actual purpose of the blog. I've written before about our purpose, and I have to admit, the posts dealing with scandal and problems among ministries and non-profits seem to be the most popular. People do respond to criticism, and for whatever reason, seem to gravitate to those posts. My blogs about Randy and Paula White's divorce, Bishops that sell anointed soap, or Juanita Bynum getting in a fist fight with her husband in a hotel parking lot always seem to get people worked up. ... read more