“Pastor, several people in the Church are upset about what you said on Sunday.”

“Some people here are not happy with the music we have been singing lately.”

“There is a group of people who would prefer that the elders lead the prayer requests.”

Those are all statements that I have heard as a pastor. There was always a group of unnamed people who hid in the shadows and were unhappy about something.

I spent years trying to do things to make “some people” or “a group of people” happy. I hated myself for never being able to do it because that meant many people didn’t like me.

Then, one day, I asked the person telling me this to give me names. I said, “Tell me who these people are, and I will go talk to them.” 

I was shocked when they could not produce a name. Slowly, I discovered that every time a complaint was registered and credited to other people, the only person who seemed upset was the person telling me the issue. I had been chasing after people who did not exist. One person was merely using a plural pronoun to describe their own opinion in an effort to sway me.

Today, if a criticism does not come with a name attached, I immediately dismiss it. I suggest you do the same.