Why can't we say what we mean? I mean, really, why is it so difficult to communicate with one another these days?
There are many opinions on this subject, ranging from general civic indifference to the disconnect between people as a result of their digital connections through social media, to those living in fear of their neighbors...and on and on...
Then there are the Beatles...nearly 40 years ago, laying it out in plain, well, mostly plain English. "I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello..."
I think, therein lies the answer...for eternity, we have been living within the ambiguity of our words, daily eking out an existence from within the confines of our misunderstanding.
Bottom line: We just can't sort it out enough to spit it out...
Now, not everyone suffers from this malady. There are those who speak what they mean ad infinitum...incessantly jabbering on about everything and nothing...speaking without thinking.
The key, at least from my perspective is this...think about what you're saying before you open your yap. This may not be an iron-clad solution to our problem, but at least it cuts out the majority of misunderstandings.
This guy Jesus said it pretty plainly..."Simply let your yes be yes and your no, no; when you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.
Ah, maybe that's the ticket...we are so self absorbed that we cannot separate our words from the context of how they, or any given situation affects us personally.
Maybe instead of worrying about what our words mean to us, we should think about what they mean to the other guy before we let them fly...?
I say yes, you say no...
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Kingdom mindset
I love my children.
In fact, my family really is the joy of Jesus in my life. At times they stoke the fires of hell...but more often than not they are joy personified.
example: our youngest son Spencer has this thing that he's been doing for the last 18 months or so, where he's constructed a miniature church in our home.
He's got it set up on one of the end tables in our living room...worship team with instruments, the platform set, the whole nine yards, and he does two weekly services.
It is aptly named, Table Church.
Now when I say he does two weekly services, I mean he does two full blown services each week, with worship, teaching, announcements, the whole deal...for like, 45 minutes to an hour each time.
So, by now you've formed one of two opinions; a. the kid needs to get out more, or, b. "awww, isn't that cute, he wants to be like his dad..."
It would be cute and all, except he's deadly serious about it...which in my mind makes it pretty dang cool.
But, that's not all. The other day our oldest son Jacob says, "hey Spencer, can i start a table church of my own too?" And Spencer says, "yeah sure, I'll help you set it up." Wait, wait, it gets better. Spencer says, "I'll leave my church and come help you set it up." So, he leaves his church in the capable hands of his little sister and goes to help his older brother plant a church.
It was amazing to see this unfold...
Kathy and I were blown away, that, totally unaware of the implications of their actions, our sons had just shown a beautiful example of Kingdom mindset church planting in our own living room. There was no ego involved, no quibbling over finances or facilities, no lobbying for personnel or territory wars.
There was a desire expressed and they went and made it happen.
Humbly, sacrificially, beautifully.
I was and still am in awe of the whole scene...especially as they started to construct the thing together and then proceeded to lead the service, together, sharing every responsibility, no posturing, no power struggles, just cooperation and community. Together.
You might think I've taken this simple child's game and extrapolated the thought beyond a reasonable limit, but let me remind you of what Jesus told his disciples, "...unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3)
Now, I do not even pretend to stand in judgment, I only hope to remind you and me, that we shouldn't hold to tightly to our models of success or think that we are doing ministry in a vacuum and no one cares about us or can help us...
What we really need to do is open our eyes to the beauty and simplicity of helping one another fulfill our God given dreams and visions. Together.
Kingdom of God kind of stuff...not kingdom of me.
I've learned a lot from my kids...I think we all might stand to benefit from their example, if we can get over our "big person" mindset and think about it.
...just a thought.
In fact, my family really is the joy of Jesus in my life. At times they stoke the fires of hell...but more often than not they are joy personified.
example: our youngest son Spencer has this thing that he's been doing for the last 18 months or so, where he's constructed a miniature church in our home.
He's got it set up on one of the end tables in our living room...worship team with instruments, the platform set, the whole nine yards, and he does two weekly services.
It is aptly named, Table Church.
Now when I say he does two weekly services, I mean he does two full blown services each week, with worship, teaching, announcements, the whole deal...for like, 45 minutes to an hour each time.
So, by now you've formed one of two opinions; a. the kid needs to get out more, or, b. "awww, isn't that cute, he wants to be like his dad..."
It would be cute and all, except he's deadly serious about it...which in my mind makes it pretty dang cool.
But, that's not all. The other day our oldest son Jacob says, "hey Spencer, can i start a table church of my own too?" And Spencer says, "yeah sure, I'll help you set it up." Wait, wait, it gets better. Spencer says, "I'll leave my church and come help you set it up." So, he leaves his church in the capable hands of his little sister and goes to help his older brother plant a church.
It was amazing to see this unfold...
Kathy and I were blown away, that, totally unaware of the implications of their actions, our sons had just shown a beautiful example of Kingdom mindset church planting in our own living room. There was no ego involved, no quibbling over finances or facilities, no lobbying for personnel or territory wars.
There was a desire expressed and they went and made it happen.
Humbly, sacrificially, beautifully.
I was and still am in awe of the whole scene...especially as they started to construct the thing together and then proceeded to lead the service, together, sharing every responsibility, no posturing, no power struggles, just cooperation and community. Together.
You might think I've taken this simple child's game and extrapolated the thought beyond a reasonable limit, but let me remind you of what Jesus told his disciples, "...unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3)
Now, I do not even pretend to stand in judgment, I only hope to remind you and me, that we shouldn't hold to tightly to our models of success or think that we are doing ministry in a vacuum and no one cares about us or can help us...
What we really need to do is open our eyes to the beauty and simplicity of helping one another fulfill our God given dreams and visions. Together.
Kingdom of God kind of stuff...not kingdom of me.
I've learned a lot from my kids...I think we all might stand to benefit from their example, if we can get over our "big person" mindset and think about it.
...just a thought.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Stupid Genius...
One of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons when i was a kid was the Bugs Bunny/Looney Toons Show. All those great characters, Bugs, Daffy, Elmer Fudd...classic! As i watch those Cartoons now, I realize how adult oriented they were with the political satire that was woven into the story lines and dialogue...anyway, I'm not writing to analyze the hidden political messages sent to generations through the brilliant script development of the Warner Bros. team.
However, i do want to write about one of the central characters of the later years of Looney Toondom. This is a character from whom we can learn many lessons about life, leadership and yes, even God.
This sage in a fur coat is none other than that anti-hero, Wile E. Coyote.
Wile E. was famous, or maybe infamous for chasing after the Road Runner and trying to make a meal out of that scrawny little bird. He used some far-out methods of trying to match the speed of the Road Runner in an attempt to snatch him...When that failed, Wile E. would create these intricate contraptions that were designed to capture the Road Runner, but when initiated, they always ended up catching, smashing, blowing Wile E. up, or dropping him off a cliff.
One of the things that I've learned from my observations of that self proclaimed "super-genius", Wile E., is that he was great with inspiration, but lousy with implementation.
The similarities between the coyote and me are frightening...so much so, that, in my ministry I've dreamed up these grand and glorious plans only to have them, like Wile E. Coyote, stall or even fail to launch because my inspiration never made it's way to the implementation phase.
My failure wasn't in that my ideas were necessarily bad, but in that I wasn't completely familiar with the intricacies of my personality or my gifts and consequently couldn't get the plan off the ground.
(it's actually pretty humbling to realize your personality can be summed up by a cartoon character...)
The upside is that, I now know I have to surround myself with people who are systems oriented. I need people who can take an idea and develop a strategy or a plan for executing the picture that I have in my head.
Because, I can come up with ideas and visions all day long, but if the implementation of those ideas is left solely up to me...it's going eventually blow up in my face.
The cool thing is that God has designed each of us to fill specific roles in life. When we discover how we are wired and learn how to function in our gifts and grow in our ability to mesh with others who are gifted in different ways, it is amazing to see what God does through us.
I hope you are learning some of these life lessons early on and that your journey of self-discovery begins with searching out God's design for you and not something you found in the "Acme Co." catalog.
However, i do want to write about one of the central characters of the later years of Looney Toondom. This is a character from whom we can learn many lessons about life, leadership and yes, even God.
This sage in a fur coat is none other than that anti-hero, Wile E. Coyote.
Wile E. was famous, or maybe infamous for chasing after the Road Runner and trying to make a meal out of that scrawny little bird. He used some far-out methods of trying to match the speed of the Road Runner in an attempt to snatch him...When that failed, Wile E. would create these intricate contraptions that were designed to capture the Road Runner, but when initiated, they always ended up catching, smashing, blowing Wile E. up, or dropping him off a cliff.
One of the things that I've learned from my observations of that self proclaimed "super-genius", Wile E., is that he was great with inspiration, but lousy with implementation.
The similarities between the coyote and me are frightening...so much so, that, in my ministry I've dreamed up these grand and glorious plans only to have them, like Wile E. Coyote, stall or even fail to launch because my inspiration never made it's way to the implementation phase.
My failure wasn't in that my ideas were necessarily bad, but in that I wasn't completely familiar with the intricacies of my personality or my gifts and consequently couldn't get the plan off the ground.
(it's actually pretty humbling to realize your personality can be summed up by a cartoon character...)
The upside is that, I now know I have to surround myself with people who are systems oriented. I need people who can take an idea and develop a strategy or a plan for executing the picture that I have in my head.
Because, I can come up with ideas and visions all day long, but if the implementation of those ideas is left solely up to me...it's going eventually blow up in my face.
The cool thing is that God has designed each of us to fill specific roles in life. When we discover how we are wired and learn how to function in our gifts and grow in our ability to mesh with others who are gifted in different ways, it is amazing to see what God does through us.
I hope you are learning some of these life lessons early on and that your journey of self-discovery begins with searching out God's design for you and not something you found in the "Acme Co." catalog.
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