Learning humility

I've been doing some writing about transparency and how that relates to community recently. Also been doing some thinking about taking risk and jumping within the context of community. So guess what two things I've been doing a lousy job of within community? Yep, transparency and risking. I appreciate the guys that helped me realize this and who talked with me about some of these things. See that is part of why I love community. I don't have to do it on my own. Hear me on this, sometimes it sucks to hear the things we need to hear. I don't always enjoy some of those tough conversations, but I am thankful for them. I am realizing that it takes a lot of humility to be a part of community. Humility says that I don't have it figured out all of the time, that I am open to correction, that I may to do some tough things that could hurt my pride, but I think someone who is humble will grow. To really learn and to lead it requires humility. The conversations that I had over the last couple of days were with some guys who demonstrate that type of humility. Probably one of the reasons why I learn so much from them and love them so much. They have humility and are also outstanding leaders. Just wish I didn't have to have those tough conversations to learn sometimes. So who do you know that demonstrates humility? What can you learn from them?

The art of grace

How do you provide room for grace while still holding someone accountability? Seems to be a tough line to walk at times in knowing when to challenge someone and when to extend grace as they grow. I honestly don't know what the most loving thing to do is in some situations. A challenge when someone needs forgiveness and understanding may hurt their growth. Letting something slide that needs to be challenged can also hurt them. That is one of the reasons that we need to be invested deeply in each others lives. If I am spending time with someone, then I usually know which is more needed at the time. If I only see someone briefly every couple of weeks or only in passing, then it becomes a lot more difficult in loving that person in the best way for them. Extending grace and knowing when to challenge someone isn't an exact science. There are no hard and fast rules, no matter what some may say. Love is the command. Sometimes that looks more like grace, other times it looks more like accountability. Do you need grace or accountability right now? Do you need to extend grace or challenge someone in their faith right now? No matter where you are at, love is always the right response. Have an incredible day loving others!

Disappointment

How do you handle disappointment? How do you respond to someone who lets you down? We have expectations (realistic or not) of how things will go and how people will respond. So what happens when it doesn't go as expected? Regardless of what we like to think at times, we don't control the outcome or results. When others are involved there can be thousands of different ways things can turn out, many which we don't expect. But really it isn't about whether are expectations are met or not. It is about how we respond. We control that part. We can choose to be bitter and hold a grudge. We can choose to forgive. We can choose to walk away and not trust again. A lot things are out of our control, but our attitude is our choice. So what do you do when someone disappoints you? What do you do when you trust someone and get hurt in the process? We can blame others, point fingers or simply decide how we are going to respond. The choice is yours.

Too busy?

How busy are you? If you fit with the typical person that I run across, probably busier than you would like. That seems strange to me. For the most part, we choose what we spend our time on. We are the ones who pack are calenders to overflowing. We try to run at a pace that we aren't meant to keep up for long distances. We try to sprint through life instead of pacing ourselves for the marathon. I know there are seasons when things beyond our control dictate a busy schedule, but shouldn't it be just for a season? A lifestyle of busyness doesn't seem healthy to me. I wonder if we try to cram so much in so that we don't have to think or feel on a deeper level. We are too busy to care about those around us because we are striving to keep our heads above water. We don't have time to think through our actions to see if they match up with the lifestyle that Jesus demonstrated. We run furiously, but have little to show for it except being more stressed than before.

As I've been trying to organize some of my thoughts about what community means and why it rarely happens, I've been wondering if the biggest reason may simply be that we are too busy. If we are running to our next appointment, the next thing on our calender, the next thing we jammed into our schedule... it seems it may be a little difficult to connect with our community. It is tough to reach a level of authenticity with others even when we are focused on it, but when we are overcommited, hurried, and looking to just survive the day, I don't how it ever happens. So when was the last time you had a real conversation? When was the last time you took the time to listen to someone, really listen, and then meet their needs? Are you running so fast that you are missing the important things? Is life passing in a blur? How busy are you? It is your choice. Just wondering out loud as usual.

Uncomfortable leadership

If you are not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader. - Seth Godin

We like the comfort zone. That place where we feel like we have things down to perfection. I like the statement above probably because I feel very uncomfortable when leading. Am I doing the right thing? Am I just going along with things because that is the way we have always done them? It is easier to be just one of the followers or even easier to be a critic. Pointing out the problems is usually the easy part, actually doing something about them is a lot more uncomfortable. "It's uncomfortable to propose and idea that might fail. It's uncomfortable to challenge the status quo. It's uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle." So where are you - comfortable or uncomfortable? Do you need to become more uncomfortable in your leadership? If you feel like you are pushing the envelope and way outside of your comfort zone, congratulations because you may be leading exactly where you are needed. Think about it some because we are all leading someone whether we are intentional about it or not. Hope I've made your day a little more uncomfortable.