Video Transcript: Naysayers
Henry Reyenga - Let's welcome back to our church planting class. We're having a great discussion with Mr. Rich DeVos. And we're going to continue that discussion. And one of the things that church planters struggle with the rich are the naysayers. The people who like all sudden get behind their brain and start negative talk. And they were negative talk maybe in the church they came from and now they're negative talk. And the church planter becomes stymied. And all of a sudden a week goes by and they're out of sync. How have you dealt with naysayers?
Rich DeVos - First of all, except the fact that they're all over the place. Okay. A naysayer is not something unusual. Most people are naysayers. That's why they don't get anywhere. Okay? Most people just plug through life, they get a job, they stay in the job, they won't change jobs unless they're fired. Their pattern is to do what is the least, and they follow the pattern and they get a job. And instantly, I'm gonna get a better job, I don't like this job. They just stay there. And that becomes a route. There are rut of life. So naysayers are everywhere. Paul found them you you talk about him no matter where he went, there are people ready to ridicule them, condemn them, and stone them. In our business. We have governments that are naysayers, because most government employees are not aggressive type people. And their business is to find fault. fault finding is the biggest game in town. If somebody makes a speech, somebody's gonna say, oh, man is too long. Or did you hear that? He'd even spell that word, right? He didn't even pronounce that word. Right? He imagined that. And he's a college kid and the girl. He didn't even pronounce a word, right? So that's what we call it. Fried chicken or royal pasture or something. So what gets you get used to the fact? I made a speech at Calvin College the other day. And now I read in the Grand Rapids Press that I didn't do something that they thought was theologically right. It wasn't a theological speech. It didn't deal with theology, I dealt with a few example, well, they apparently didn't conform with what his theology was. So he writes a letter to the public, Paul writes a DeVos faith is weak, he doesn't understand this. And it's okay. But it doesn't matter, either. You're all I'm talking about all how to be positive. How to encourage people. And he writes a letter telling me how bad I am, right? Oh, that's true. I'm not very smart. When you make a speech in one subject, or you do something in one way, doesn't mean you can't cover everything that goes in the Christian world, until
Henry Reyenga - one sermon is not addressed every tiopic so
Rich DeVos - so naysayers are all over there in your church, and they're on the streets. And so get used to it. Now, if you want to be a church builder, that you either have to overcome this or you want to get out of the business, right?
Because if you're gonna let your life be controlled by what they say, and you're not a church builder, right? You better go get a job driving a truck or something, okay? Is that's what you're, you're, you're just a follower, right? You're not a builder, you're a follower. So
Henry Reyenga - you're really seeing leaders can expect naysayers.
Rich DeVos - They're gonna look out for you, they're laying on the weeds for you. Because people don't do anything. You know, if the other guys leave a job, and I go out, and they all have a beer, and they all know what's wrong with the company. Okay? The other guys are still at work, the management people, are still at work fine. It helps the business grow, figuring out what they're gonna do tomorrow, other events, the business, but they're already home telling everything that's bad. And so don't go there. First of all, don't hang around with people who think like that. That's a
Henry Reyenga - good point. You can actually you have to be very intentional about hanging around positive people. Well,
Rich DeVos - because the others are always with you. When I started making speeches, I decided to do positive speeches. Because every other speech, I hear, the speaker would have a subject. And he would develop a subject and then he would tell us what was wrong with the subject. And then he would tell us how he would fix it. Because he was smart. So his goal was not to deliver an effective positive speech. His goal was to show how smart he was. And most people are speaking, always trying to show how smart they are. So be careful who you listen to because the world is filled with these beer drinking guys who used to hang around they go to football games, they know what's wrong, they know every play, they know that the coach is stupid. So don't get surprised the whole stadium is
Henry Reyenga - full of them. Right? And if you win, they cheered. If you lose, they're not happy. So
Rich DeVos - what anyway, this is a part of the job, right? To deal with those are the people you got to reach and make them joyful in the Christ in Christ. So just practice when you hear people who are like that you guys sit. So let me talk to you a little bit about, well,
Henry Reyenga - you know, you brought up the theology and Calvin maybe we should just ground Why is a naysayer and that's that total depravity that's the sin
every one of us, as I said earlier by saying that we're all kind of naysayers and then some subjects, we all have something negative to say,
Rich DeVos - but a pastor has the good news. Amen. And here's where the power and you you just always come back to that yes, it's your let me tell you the good news. All these things are true in the world. So let me say the good news that's great Henry. Well that's what you do. You are the most consistent so when right Are you Are you okay? You find me on the street corner you find him in on the beaches you you're and and you've been at it all your life and you never stopped doing it. And you see most people start it and that the real excitement and then they start getting the naysayers and then they stop. Now the naysayers controlling your life. Fear of what somebody else says is dominant in your life. So you're no longer a leader. You surrendered your leadership role to being a follower.