I’m really encouraged by part of Perry Noble’s blog yesterday:

People Will Always Question Your Motives

You had better know why you do what you do…because there are tons of people out there who will be glad to tell others why you do what you do…and it will actually have nothing to do with why you are doing what you are doing. (WOW–that could be confusing…I hope it made sense!)

Ed Young said yesterday that people have always questioned why he did what he did. He made the comment that people criticized the kind of car he drove and the kind of house he lived in when he was driving a clunker and living in a dump…so he knew if they did it then that it would never stop.

It is very healthy to question your own motives…VERY healthy; however, understand that, as a leader, you will never…and I mean EVER…be able to explain yourself to some people…and you will waste VALUABLE kingdom time trying to do so.

I’ve heard it said so well…your friends won’t need an explanation…and your enemies won’t believe you anyway!

Making decisions is part of life. For most people, decisions rarely influence anyone other than themselves, but in ministry our decisions can affect many people in many different ways, sometimes in ways that are perceived negatively. When this happens motives are often questioned, values are imposed upon the decision, and sometimes people downright disagree with it on all sorts of levels. Nine times out of ten, however, it seems that these are the people who do not have the full story or understand what takes place behind scenes of the ministry, nor is it their business to know. I feel tempted to spill the whole story in attempts to justify myself, but that would do more harm than good and would also cause me to stoop to a level of immaturity where I’m not willing to go. I just remind myself that it’s okay if people think poorly of me; I’m not in ministry for popularity. What’s important is that I do what’s right, walk in integrity and take whatever consequences come as a result.

Posted on March 22, 2006