8/30/2017 0 Comments Listen like it mattersI recently joined a Christian Bloggers support group. It’s an online forum where we are supposed to support and network with each other. Everyone posts a link to their blog and waits for the other people to read it and offer advice. The problem is no one reads what anyone else posts. Basically everyone posts their own masterpiece, but can’t be bothered to read what anyone else writes; so everyone is waiting for confirmation that their material is loftier, more revelational, more insightful, and far superior to the rest of the people on the board. Waiting sure can take a long time. No one really wants to talk about someone else’s idea when their own idea is so grand.
I’ve noticed that life is like that on most levels. People interrupt to blurt out their great plan which is almost exactly the same as the plan you were going to implement before they came along. Then when you do it their way, they can take credit. There have been times where my pride would get in the way of cooperation, and when that happened things would invariably turn out bad or be far more difficult than they had to be. My ideas had to be my ideas, and when someone else came up with the same idea, I would decide to do something different just to be stubborn. I’m glad I grew out of that stage. When I worked as a retail manager years ago when I was fresh out of college, I learned that letting someone else take the credit and listening to the ideas of my associates was the best way to ensure my store and my team ran smoothly. It’s such a simple strategy in business, life, and the church. Don’t take yourself to seriously and esteem the people on your team. It was even better when one of my employees would come with the same idea I had. I could do what I wanted to do and give the credit to the employee who could take pride in the accomplishment, very motivating on a corporate level. Motivation like that works on a familial level as well. Last weekend, my kids and I attempted an escape room. We had to work through a series of puzzles to get out of the room. Teamwork was essential, especially at the beginning. We were all handcuffed to a cot in the center of the room. In order, to get anywhere in the small space we had to move as a team and work with a team. We had to share ideas and problem solve as a group in order to unlock safes and decode messages. Listening and cooperation made sense within the context of the game, it makes sense in life, and it makes sense in ministry. God want us working together with each other and building each other up, honoring others over ourselves. It’s hard to be a servant leader when you think you are better than everyone around you. I believe that is why pride is talked about in the Bible so much; it’s such an easy sin to commit. Anytime I start to preface a thought with the phrase “Well, at least…” I try to catch myself. Am I about to compare myself to someone by pointing out their flaws to make myself look better? “Well, at least I’m not as hungover as Harry this Sunday.” “Well, at least I didn’t stumble over the liturgy like Bob does on his week.” “Well, at least my kids never acted that way in church.” Whatever the comparison, is it pride or compassion that motivates it? And does it really matter. We all fall into the comparison trap and use pride in our accomplishments to try to climb out, occasionally. There isn’t and “I” in teamwork, but there is one in pride. Refusing to listen to the other side of an argument, refusing to accept someone else’s ideas, and refusing to take the time from our busy lives to listen to another person are all indications of pride. So this week, I am going to listen better, encourage more, and read a few of the posts on the blog site. I hope I won’t be too proud to take the time out of my important and busy schedule to text a friend when I feel led to do so, to lend a hand when the task is menial, and to love when no one is looking. It’s been a while. Out of practice on this writing thing, obviously!
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AuthorI am a Christian, a wife, a mom, and a part-time basket case who wants to be a full time writer.
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