![]() Some negative church folk have a rap-sheet filled with church hopping. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” ( 1 Thess. “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. Don’t judge negative church folk like you’re cooking a hot-pocket you need more time. Chipper might be a slithering wolf, but you have to get up close and find out. Here’s the deal: negative sheep don’t detract from the mission and vision, they are whom the mission and vision exists for - if it’s biblical. Negative needs to find a new church, or maybe he needs his pastor to pastor him. It takes a humble shepherd to learn from a negative wart, and it take a proud pastor to send a saint out to pasture with out shepherding them on the way. Do your homework before you give a grade. You may benefit from them by asking about their perspectives. Meet with them, face to face - email wars are for losers. Instead of writing them off, fulfill your duty as a Pastor and pastor them. I’ve heard too many pastors and planters shoo someone away that was detracting from their mission and vision because they went against the grain don’t put the cart infront of the horse and kick out the passengers. Jesus corrected him, strongly mind you, and still kept him around. Peter tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission. Some of the strongest negativity came from his team of leaders Peter had a knack for being negative. Jesus had negative critics - and still does. Don’t pull a muscle while thinking so highly of yourself ( Rom. You aren’t above being questioned or criticized. It’s always good and biblical to humble yourself. Search your own heart before you deal with someone else's. Deal with your sin before you deal with theirs. Humble Yourselfīefore you handle the pan, put on a glove. ![]() Here are three things to consider when dealing with negative church people. Negativity comes in many different packages and people emails and phone calls, early coffee meetings and late night barn-burners - how will you deal with it? I’ve had a man stand in my office, look me in the eyes and say, “I don’t like that you are the pastor of this church.” Thanks for sharing! But they love the bad church coffee, which makes sense, they are in charge of it! What do you do with this person? They are suspicious of your leadership, the direction of the church, the new ministry endeavor, the new hire, the last sermon series, the mission’s dollars, the elders, the deacons, the membership process, the lack of position papers on alcohol and home-schooling, the quilting ladies, and the amount of bulletins printed. I’m talking about the person who is negative about everything but they show up every Sunday, are in a community group, shoot - they even give 10%. Every pastor, ministry leader, and church-goer knows what a negative church person smells like.
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