We like the theme behind the article
Francis Chan Warns Against Criticizing Church Leaders: ‘Be Careful With the Lord’s Anointed’
and we want to agree with Mr. Chan but we find that many church leaders are misguided when it comes to the Bible. We doubt, for the most part, that this misguided nature is wilful. We do agree that people need to be careful when they criticize church leaders because they are attacking God’s anointed people. But this is not something that was invented when the internet and social media came into being. Criticism of church leadership has gone on for centuries prior to the advent of the modern technological age.
Lamenting how social media has given Christians the power to speak openly about spiritual leaders in an interview with Charisma, Chan pointed to the principles highlighted in Psalm 105:12-15 and Ephesians 4 in urging Christians against bashing leadership.
We can point to Mars Hill as a prime example of when this criticism gets out of control. People like Warren Throckmorton were leading the charge for regime change in that church. The problem was Throckmorton and his followers were not members of Mars Hill and had no real connection to that church. We called him on it to his face several times but our words were dismissed. Throckmorton’s criticism boiled down to his telling the people of Mars Hill who they could or could not have as a pastor.
That is wrong and not Throckmorton’s or anyone outside of the church call. But Mr. Chan is right. Critical people do ignore the example of David and think they know better than God who should lead his church. We will join Mr. Chan on this part of his point. We probably would not have had much of a problem with Mr. Throckmorton if he had counseled Mars Hill members to leave the church but we do take issue with almost anyone when they try to rob someone of their God-given employment. Especially when it is none of their business.
Chan, 50, explained that he has intentionally been avoiding social media because the relentless feedback “would kill his soul.”
We will only say here that social media is not where pastors and church media should be getting their feedback. If they have a close relationship with God, they should be looking to him for guidance on how to improve or continue. The last we looked, going to social media was not a biblical instruction.
He said the culture of relentless feedback and criticism in which pastors work today has made it much more difficult for them to lead.
This is not a too difficult situation to overcome. People need to be properly trained to handle their new soap box and if members are listening to uneducated or unintelligent and uninformed posts then maybe the pastor should grow a little bolder and lay down the law. God is in charge of the church not the people of social media.
Also, church members should be taught about those who do not mind their own business and stick their noses in where it doesn’t belong. They should be taught how to dismiss those who but in where they do not belong.
Chan said he was also concerned that the church wasn’t following God’s command to love one another, noting that members would just greet each other for 30 seconds and mainly hang out in cliques once a week.
“I was like, ‘God, you wanted a church that was known for their love.
This is the misguided part. It seems from those words, that Mr. Chan does not know the real meaning of love and uses that word cheaply. Love does not mean we dispense with all criticism. Just the bad kind. But love is deeper than how most people define the term. Love still corrects, it still rebukes, it does not exclude one passage of scripture and prioritize another. Nor does it change what scripture says to find support for one’s personal preferences.
Our advice to Mr. Chan and others like him is to find the real meaning of terms then apply them to your life correctly. Quitting a church using such a weak excuse is taking the easy way out. The question that comes to our mind is why didn’t he stay to lead those 5,000 people to the truth and the right way to follow God? This is why we have a difficult time in agreeing with everything he says.
Misguided people, it happens in leadership as well, hurt the church and they hurt their fellow believers. A good leader, granted there are exemptions to this, would not abandon 5,000 people to go his own way. He would stand up like a Christian man and lead everyone the right way regardless of the fallout. A good Christian leader stands with God and lets the people leave if they do not want to follow.
Leadership is not easy, but a good leader does not stray from God or look for cheap excuses to support his decision to leave people in the wilderness. He does what he can to get the people to follow the right way to live and use their spiritual gifts.
We are only using Mr. Chan as an example here as we do not know his full story on why he left his church. We only have his few words in this article.
theologyarchaeology 
I have seen it too but I do not want to get too critical here. The church has lost its leadership principle and too often it is the people who think they are in charge. That makes for a difficult situation for the pastors.
I would bet that some people look at the church in the words of Abraham Lincoln, a government for the people, by the people… Then the pastor is not looked at or respected as a man of God but as an employee who is beneath the people.
It is sad to see this as I have seen many church coups. Good pastors get ousted by non-members as you have mentioned, but I have seen a great number of pastors give these people what they want even if it goes against scripture instead of standing with their members who support God’s word.