How To Handle Opposition

Mark 7:1-7 1Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. 5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

1. Leaders have a constant companion.

• It is opposition.
• If you lead, you will have those who oppose you.
• Be ready with answers for your critics, and do not let unjust or unwarranted criticism discourage you.
• It is very important to be able to discern the difference between UNJUST or UNWARRANTED criticism and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism given by caring friends, which is valuable to every leader.

2. OPPOSITION will often come in the form of attacks on your people as in the case of our text.

• The Pharisees sought to DISTRACT and DISRUPT Jesus by attacking His disciples.
• Make no mistake about it – an attack on your followers is an attack on your leadership.
• As you defend your followers, you do two things:

1. First, you defend yourself.
2. Second, as your followers see you standing up for them, their loyalty to you and to your leadership is greatly enhanced.

3. While it is important to defend and speak up for your followers in public, this does not mean that you turn a blind eye to their actions that need reproof and correction.

• Followers do make mistakes.
• Some mistakes are honest.
• But some followers use their position to do bad things.
• Both need correction; the latter needs rebuke.
• In almost every circumstance, a leader will be wise to correct or rebuke followers in private or at least within an inner circle.

Note the way Jesus rebuked the disciples and the circumstances throughout the Gospels in which He did it.

• Jesus did not directly answer the criticism of the Pharisees, nor did He directly criticize their man-made rules.
• Instead, He dealt with the heart of the issue – man-made rules versus God’s eternal law.

4. Nothing in our text suggests that the Pharisees were wrong to establish certain traditions regarding ceremonial washings.

• Those traditions were meant to remind the Jews of their inner uncleanness and the absolute necessity of approaching God with a clean heart.
• But somehow that noble purpose had been twisted into an extrabiblical standard for judging others.
• When Jesus called them “hypocrites,” it wasn’t because of their rules, but because of their judgmental spirit that contradicted the very point of hand washing in the first place.

Jesus

1. Responded to unjust criticism.
2. Defended His disciples, and at the same time.
3. Refocused the issue away from His followers and back on His critics.

Jesus did a masterful job of showing how a leader handles his critics without getting unnecessarily sidetracked.

5. You can't have opportunity without opposition.

• One of the great tests of leadership is how you handle opposition.
• Do you panic under pressure?
• Do you get uptight, lose your temper, blow up, become discouraged, or give up?
• Part of the job description of leadership is dealing with people who oppose you and your vision for the church.

Six Steps to Handling Opposition

 1. Rely on God

• Prayer
• Release it to the Lord.
• When you’re being ridiculed, you don’t suppress it, you confess it.
• Don’t get caught up into name calling.
• Instead of calling names…PRAY.
• The greater the opposition, the more you need to pray.
• Don’t take it out on other people; talk it out with God.

2. Respect the Opposition

• Be prayerful and practical at the same time.
• Guard yourself from danger.
• It’s fine to lay in bed at night and pray, “Protect me from the burglars.” But you also need to get up and lock your door!
• Petition without precaution is presumption.

3. Reinforce your weak points

• Find the places you’re vulnerable in.
• Place a guard on your heart in those places.
• Good leaders know where they are vulnerable, and they reinforce that area.

4. Reallocate recourses, but don’t stop what you’re doing.

• You have three alternatives when you’re being attacked.

1. Give up.
2. Leave your post and go fight.
3. Build and guard yourself.

• Leaders must build and battle at the same time.
• You never leave your post to fight the enemy.
• You could spend all your time putting out fires and never complete what God has called you to do.

5. Reassure people.

• Rally yourself and your followers.
• The task of leadership is to relieve the fears of your followers and reinforce their confidence.
• When we’re under attack…the leader’s job is to raise people’s morale.
• When you’re under attack, if the devil can get you to focus on the opposition, he’s won a major victory.
• You either focus on the opposition or you focus on the Lord.
• When you’re facing opposition, it’s your job as the leader to help your people “REMEMBER THE LORD!

6. Refuse to quit.

• You must model persistence.
• You are the last to give up.
• You are the last to jump ship.
• You refuse to quit.
• Persistence is the ultimate test of leadership.

How do you handle ministry when the going gets tough?

• The secret of success is to simply OUTLAST your critics.
• There is nothing the devil would rather do more than make you stall on what God is calling you to do.
• Don’t let him do that.
• You’ve got to be PERSISTENT!

You’ll face opposition sometime in your ministry. How you handle that opposition will go a long way in deciding whether or not you complete the task to which you’ve been called.

Will you complete yours?