How Criticism of Jay Cutler Is Like Criticism of Pastors 

Okay, I know some of you are already getting bothered by my analogy between Jay Cutler and pastors. 

Please be patient, I’m not finished with this blog post yet… 

So, yesterday, Jay Cutler (the Chicago Bears’ starting quarterback) came back weeks early from a serious groin injury (are there any other kinds of groin injuries other than serious ones?). Expected to miss a minimum of four games, Jay only missed one full game. 

In yesterday’s game, Jay took hit after brutal hit. And yet he kept on playing. Then he injured his hand. Then he injured his ankle. Hobbled, Jay kept playing. 

Finally, with just over two minutes left in the game, the Bears’ Coach, Marc Trestman, finally put in Jay’s replacement, Josh McCown. 

During the game the Twitter-verse was going ballistic. People were calling Jay “selfish” for not taking himself out of the game. They felt that if he was not 100% healthy, then he should have asked or demanded that Coach Trestman bench him. 

Now, let’s put this in context. A few years ago, in a playoff game, Jay was seriously hurt. He tried to keep playing. But finally he could not continue. The same Twitter-verse, the same critics, hammered Jay relentlessly saying he was weak, a baby, a quitter—Jay Quitler. 

You Can’t Win the Public Opinion Battle 

What does the Jay Cutler situation teach us? 

You can’t win the public opinion battle. 

Fans who have never played the game at an elite level (or at all) feel that they have more insight into toughness and decision-making than the players and coaches who have paid their dues. 

Fans who couldn’t take one hit from one of the strongest men in the world (a defensive lineman), think they can judge whether Jay is tough or not. 

Fans who call Jay a quitter for not playing when he was injured, turn around and call him selfish for playing when he is injured. 

Jay can’t win. 

Jay and Pastors 

It reminds me of how people sometimes treat pastors. 

Pastors just can’t win. They preach too long; they preach too short. They preach too theologically, they preach too shallow. They counsel too little; they counsel too much. They lead too much with a business perspective; they lead too little with a business perspective. They are too sociable; they are not sociable enough.  

I recall one time in my ministry as a Senior Pastor when a member shared that my sermons were not as doctrinally-filled as the previous pastor. My preaching vision and that of our elders was always about doctrine-applied to life, and never about doctrine separated from life. This person thought it should be all doctrine with no life application. 

So, after carefully listening to the feedback, after sharing that our pulpit ministry would always combine doctrine and Christ-centered life application, but also wanting to be responsive, we (the elders and I) decided that we would start doing 13-week Adult Sunday School series with a focus on the classic ten doctrines of systematic theology. While we would still apply doctrine to life (the Bible is richly relevant), we would provide deep doctrinal content. 

Guess what? The person who shared the concern never once attended any of the classes that any of us (the elders and I) taught over the next several years. 

Because we did want to assess how well we were feeding God’s sheep, I spoke with the previous pastor. He empathized with me, but then had to chuckle. “Bob, the same person complained about the opposite issue with me, saying my preaching was too filled with doctrine and did not have enough life application!” 

We Preach to an Audience of One

My point is not to vindicate my past pastoral preaching—we all can grow in our preaching of the Word.

Nor is my point to say, “Never respond to feedback.” I’ve already indicated how we (the elders and I) thought through the feedback and added something significant to our weekly ministry. (By the way, a good number of people took those Adult Sunday School classes and benefitted—from deep doctrine still applied to life). 

My point is, pastors, we can’t please everyone. Sometimes we can’t please anyone! 

But that’s not the point of our calling as pastors, is it?

We preach to an audience of One—our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

We don’t live, as the King James Version says, “with eyeservice as menpleasers.” Instead, we live to glorify and please God. 

The world would say, “You can’t please everybody, so you’ve got to please yourself.” 

The Word says, “You’re calling is not to please everybody; you’re calling is to do the will of God from the heart for God’s glory through God’s strength.” 

Shepherd the Sheep for the Shepherd’s Glory 

Pastors, if they rip on Jay Cutler, who is one of the top 15 best quarterbacks on the planet, then folks will rip you, too. 

But there is One who loves you and understands what it is to be a shepherd. He is our Good Shepherd. 

Shepherd the sheep for the Shepherd’s glory. 

Join the Conversation 

As a pastor/church leader, how do you deal with the reality that you can’t please everybody? 

RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth