Things I wished I would have done earlier... pt. 4

Criticize by complaining. Oh wait, that’s what I did. Let me change that – criticize by creating.

Early on in my youth ministry career, when I saw things I did not like in the church or thought was wrong, I complained about them. I didn’t do anything to fix what I thought was wrong, I just complained about it. In complaining about what was wrong, I was relying on other people to fix the problem instead of rising up as a leader and offering suggestions to fix the issue. I can only imagine what others thought as I complained.




o Why doesn’t he do something about it?
o Does he have any constructive ideas to fix the problem?
o Is he ever satisfied with what goes on here?
o Does he ever say anything positive?
o Why is he always relying on us to fix the things that upset him?

I don’t know if these questions actually went through people’s heads – I can only imagine. But now as a person who is a little older, those are the questions that enter my mind when I hear someone complain. In fact, I rarely listen to people who just complain and never offer up suggestions on how to fix the problem.

What I wish I had done earlier was complain by creating. Instead of complaining about what I saw I wish I would have created ideas and solutions to the issues that I saw. And that would be my advice to younger people as well. Create ideas on how to fix problems, and then go one step further – offer to implement the ideas that you created. No one likes to hear people complain, but everyone likes to work with a person who is willing to come up with ideas to solve a problem, and then actually follow through and implement the ideas.

Criticize by creating – I wish I had done that earlier!