Read Nehemiah 4-6

“This is the most abominable church I have ever seen.  It breaks my heart that you lead so many children away from God.  You should all be ashamed of yourselves.  You call yourselves Christians but I doubt you even know who Christ is.  I will never come to this Satan’s den again!”

Those not so encouraging comments were written on the back of a roll call card by a visitor to our church years ago.  Since she left only her first name and no address or phone number there was no opportunity to discuss her concerns.  She just vented her caustic criticism at a time when dozens were coming to Christ every week and the Spirit of God was really at work in our church.

Coping with criticism has always been a big challenge for leaders.  When Nehemiah began to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem he was the target of a series of vicious attacks from two self-appointed critics: Sanballat and Tobiah.  These local dissidents ridiculed the quality of his work—“Even if a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!”  Nehemiah didn’t respond to them.  He just prayed, “O God, turn their insults back on their own heads.”  And the people continued to work with all their heart.

The critics then asked Nehemiah to stop building temporarily and attend a meeting to discuss the wisdom of the project.  Nehemiah declined saying, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.”

The disturbed adversaries then circulated false rumors that Nehemiah was planning an armed revolt and was motivated by a lust for power.  They accused him of plotting to be king.  Nehemiah replied, “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”

Sanballat and Tobiah even hired a hit man to kill him but Nehemiah refused to be intimidated and he just kept on building.  He prayed fervently that God would protect him and deal with his detractors.

Nehemiah’s experience teaches several lessons to all leaders:

1. Be realistic – Criticism is inevitable no matter how noble your deed or significant your achievement.  Nehemiah should have been above criticism.  His project was needed, his motives were pure, his leadership was superb, and he was receiving no personal remuneration or special recognition.  Yet he was the victim of ruthless attacks.

2. Be discerning – Seek to understand the motives behind the criticism.  Some scrutiny is valid and healthy.  Solomon wrote, “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise” (Proverbs 15:31).  But the criticism leveled at Nehemiah wasn’t honest or constructive.  His detractors wanted the project to fail.

3. Be cautious – Not all criticism should be answered.  The initial reaction is to answer every stupid accusation.  But Nehemiah ignored some of the objections and answered others.  To determine our reaction it helps to ask a series of questions.  Is the criticism sincere or is the critic just venting anger?  Will answering the criticism help the project or do more damage by keeping the issue alive?  Is this the first reply or are we rehashing old arguments?  Is the criticism reasonable or are we giving credibility to a perverse attack by answering it?  Does answering help others or am I just defending myself?

4. Be prayerful – Talk to God before talking to the critic.  Nehemiah asked for God’s intervention and wisdom.  When we ask for God’s help we’re more likely to be objective and less likely to respond in anger.

5. Be focused – Don’t allow criticism to cloud the big picture.  Nehemiah stayed on task and when he did respond his answers were brief and to the point.  He refused to be detracted from his lofty mission.  The result?  “So the wall was completed…in fifty two days.  When all our enemies heard about his, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that his work had been done with the help of our God” (Nehemiah 6:15-16).