This family is probably way too familiar with criticism. With David being a pastor it seems to be part of the job unfortunately. I get it for a whole truck load of different reasons whether it be from "well-meaning" church ladies or family. Sean may get it, but not as much as we do, and he seems to have some sort of built in self-preservation shield he's developed. Regardless, it's a subject well worth looking into.

David A Zimmerman in his Loud Time blog writes an article well worth your time to read:

"No matter what you do, there will be critics." I think there's a distinction between critics and haters that's some mix of a degree distinction and an ethical gulf: critics critique, based on an opinion that is at least assumed to be informed; haters hate, based on almost nothing.

Critique is a healthy exercise, I think, a corrective against the self's intuitive logic and self-satisfaction. That doesn't mean that critique isn't occasionally annoying, of course; critique causes us to reconsider what we're doing regardless of how much prior consideration we've already given it, and so it can introduce a high level of inefficiency into our best-laid plans. But a world without critique would probably not be a very enjoyable world. The book of Judges prefaced some truly awful stories with the line "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

Read the rest of it here.