“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston Churchill
28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard what he said to the men; and Eliab’s [a]anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption (overconfidence) and the evil of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” 1 Samuel 17:28 (AMP)
As a leader one of the first lessons I had to learn is that it is a tough assignment. I had to learn to accept both the peril and promise of leadership. I had to accept the fact that leadership can be both rewarding and risky. The assignment is made even tougher by the fact that everyone has an opinion about how we should lead. Another contributing factor to the toughness of the task, which accompanies leadership is the fact that regardless of what the leader does, they will receive their fair share of criticism. Criticism can be defined and described as fault-finding. I have been in some type of leadership role in the church for the last 25 years and one thing I learned early is that there is always someone who will find fault. Regardless of the experience or the expertise, every leader will ultimately face criticism. It comes with the territory. And unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perception it comes with the job.
In this snapshot in the life of David, this point is made very clear. In this narrative David has been commissioned by his Father, Jesse to take some rations to the armies of Israel and by extension his brothers who are enlisted in the army. When he arrives, he witnesses the standoff between the armies of Israel and the Philistines. He also witnesses a giant by the name of Goliath taunting and threatening King Saul and his armies. To make matters worse Goliath has now offered a challenge for the Armies of Israel to send a warrior into the valley of Elah to engage in mortal combat with him. David hears this exchange and asks what the reward was for the man who would, in essence, silence this enemy of the Armies of Israel.
The narrative then reports that David’s oldest brother overheard him and his anger “burned” against David. And Eliab asked David “why have you come down here? Eliab then went further and suggested that David was being presumptuous or over-confident and that the only reason David came down was to see the battle.
David’s brother has levelled a criticism against David. He is fault finding. Surely, David has only shown up to watch the battle. Notice, David has shown leadership in a situation where others were being fearful. But rather than focus on that, his brother finds fault. David’s brashness and boldness have engendered criticism from his own brother. The fact that the criticism comes from his brother is significant given the backstory of David (See 1 Samuel 16) but of greater significance to those of us who dare accept the role of leader and the responsibility that comes with it is that there will always be someone critical of our leadership. There will always be fault-finders. And they will often be people that you least expected. Whether it is how we lead or the decisions we make or don’t make. I have learned, sometimes painfully, that every decision is scrutinized. Every proposal questioned and every idea critiqued. The list is endless but they can be reduced to simply style or substance. When the leader steps fully into their role, they will discover that the critics are not far behind. Perhaps this is why someone wrote that in order to lead the orchestra, you have to turn your back to the crowd. As we dive deeper into the story, we discover that this is exactly what David does. David turns his back on his critic. The narrator tells us that David says to his brother, ‘what have I done now? And then it says, he turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
The legendary coach Vince Lombardi once quipped “the leader must always walk the tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert. However, in cracking the criticism code, we have to be willing and able to turn our backs on our critics. We have to be willing and able to accept wise counsel but also understand when what is being offered is intended to keep you from fully embracing the task at hand. Leaders must lead. Even when it is not popular. Leaders must gather as much information as they can and then chart a course forward. One of my favorite leadership quotes is from Martin Luther King, Jr. who understood “a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” David was not searching for consensus or confirmation he was focused on molding consensus. The leader who cracks the criticism code understands that everyone has an opinion but do not allow the opinions to deter or distract you from the task at hand.
I have seen men and women with great potential paralyzed by the criticism or fault-finding of others. Even Saul in this story (vs. 33) tells David that he would not be able to go against Goliath. Again, David helps us because he refuses to let the negativity and the naysayers discourage him. You know how the story ends. David is not swayed by the fault finders. David is not discouraged by the negativity or the naysayers. David understands the importance of the task at hand. David is still determined to accept and embrace this assignment.
Likewise, if we are going to crack the criticism code, we must understand the import and implications of our leadership and we must be determined to keep moving forward. We must continue to lead despite the negativity and the naysayers. We must understand that critics and criticism are the prices we pay for leadership. We must remember that we are molding consensus and not searching for it. We must remember that someone is depending on our leadership.
Paul D. Flowers, Sr. 