 When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
(Winston Churchill)
In a day and age when all matters of truth are viewed as relative commodities, effective leadership built on principle will always be tested by criticism. The loftier the principle proclaimed, the louder it seems is the voice of criticism. This is the nature of the beast.
The enemy of the weak but friend to the strong, criticism has a way of testing one’s conviction and resolve. It can be an effective tool to measure, confirm, and validate one’s course of life. Its power can expose weaknesses and confirm strengths. How many leaders surrender their convictions to criticism? How many more abandon their calling altogether because they allowed disparaging remarks to seep into their hearts and rob them of their ministry joy?
Yet, a faithful leader must rise above the human tendency to retreat from the battle or flee into the shadows. If history can provide any encouragement it is this: Every good soldier of the Lord that has known success has faced criticism along the way. Another couple of lesser resolve might have yielded to the barbs of critics or betrayal of friends. Yet, spend a few minutes with Gary and Anne Marie and you come to realize they are neither resentful, embittered, nor crushed. They focus attention on what God has accomplished and continues to accomplish in the world. With more than eight million parents and twice as many children influenced by their values-based teaching, they realize there is bound to be a critic or a cynic here and there.
Gary and Anne Marie have learned that it is neither prudent to ignore criticism nor wise to allow it to preoccupy their thoughts. They evaluate it for merit, test if for legitimacy, take what is beneficial and move on. The problem of moving on is that old stories of fictional nature never get purged from the internet but tend to resurface in mutated forms at another time. It is a shame that any Christian organization must keep an archive of public responses. These archives exists because the internet exists. That is now a way of life.
This page provides a link for those who are looking for specific responses to specific criticisms, and misinformed internet posts. While independent of GFI, Ezzotruth.com is an excellent resource. It not only provides independent responses to criticisms, but also provides character profiles of the many critics.
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