It is done now. Recovering from the sound and fury is not simple and everyone does it differently. Our societal leaders rang the fear bell in March. We the people responded and hid away from life and one another. We denied our basic needs for community and faith and fellowship and embraced FEAR as our overseer. Authoritarian tendencies were encouraged because it was for the greater good, for public health, to save our most at risk, to save ourselves.
we the people are now afraid. Our fragile hold on trusting one another has been ripped away in most cases. Instead we now rely on the TV, on the Internet, on the government. Dictators and authoritarians know that fear binds us. They use it to manipulate and control us. It is then followed by force. The solution to the sound of fear is the liberty bell. We stand up and sing together of our faith in God, and one another. We must embrace our lives and living in place of fear. We cannot unring the fear bell that our #idiotsincharge rang so recklessly but we can stand together and ring a whole chorus of bells into the future filled with faith, hope, and love. The fear is always there but it can be overcome with faith.
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Abolish the police is foolishness. Defund the police is misguided and reckless. I am watching my country listen to uninformed, inexperienced children for public policy. This is insanity.
Systemic Reorganization without cultural change changes almost nothing with huge costs. Any movement that REQUIRES 100% compliance by dictate is doomed. Authority and enforcement MUST persist. Rule of Law is the only way. It is naive and utterly ridiculous to embrace an idyllic utopian view that is impractical and dangerous. We have the best system of government in the world. We should be using it and reforming our representatives and leaders using our VOTEs. We the people can and will stand together to reform America. The process for progress never ended and it never will. I’m excited to watch Americans learn and embrace that their states are unique and empowered and special. I’m proud to be a Virginian. I’m not like other people. My state is not NY or CA or DC and I reject that as a premise. My representatives in state and federal govt speak for me. I’m ashamed of many of them. I respect and will campaign for those I agree with. That is how the system works and it does work. Also, we can do better.
I don’t agree with Lord Northam our exalted high Governor but I respect his position as our leader. We can and must govern ourselves within the Republic. I'm fairly certain that the major media outlets would consider me to be an "extremist" because I don't share their liberal views on liberty, firearms, or appropriate government involvement in daily lives. Even more because I write and share my opinions and suggestions freely with the attitude that my thoughts are valid, and my platform as a connector, and message as a leader is important. I'm not a threat to them, but I would like to be. I AM REAL and EDUCATED and PASSIONATE and REASONABLE. To be honest, some of you probably already consider me to be overly concerned, and too worked up as I've been really active in past month due to stress and quarantine and my family Rona reality.
Maybe, but if I'm right, and I usually am about these things, then we are in for a really rough time in coming months... and the ONLY thing that will sustain us will be local communities, family, and faith... The government and the central planners are NOT coming to save you... even in the red states. The real test of credibility arises when an expert and/or communicator must align and collaborate with others who DISAGREE. Managing dissenting views is a CRITICAL skill in short supply during this crisis, and virtually all crises. If experts can't quickly and efficiently handle questions from non-experts in a public forum, are they really experts?
The answer is yes, but it does mean that their communications credibility is called into question. The echo chamber amplification phenomenon of the internet does exist in academia and peer review models across all verticals. GREAT and CREDIBLE leaders seek out dissenting views, listen to minority reports, and then decide accordingly. Sometimes the majority wins, and sometimes the dissenters hold the day. Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are wrong. The more we are right... the more credibility we have. Period. “Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that as well.” ― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now A crisis of leadership is repaired when the people unify under a singular purpose... and begin working towards a Goal (normally outlined and clarified by a leader) - the solution lies in the working... not in the vilification or discussion of what has always been done, how it has always been done, etc.. Making more problems doesn't solve the pressing problem.
Central question for church leaders remains. What are you teaching in your example and in your words. They must match. Your congregation sees and knows and yearns for a direction and progress. If they only feel vilified, guilty, and attacked... nothing changes. Jesus teaches and models love and redemption, and grace... via action, and choice... He models an active love, not retired, not tired, not passive, not by proxy, or by checkbook. Each one of us is specific, beloved, and required.. If and when we are divided, we can unify by working together on one thing, building relationships, then working together on another thing, building more relationships, etc... This cycle is the only one that works.. Volatile and tragic times are nothing new. Perhaps our collective response to them is, perhaps not. I’m not sure we are even special.
We change nothing by assassinating the character of others. Hysterical claims and emotional appeals are engaging in media but only influential when connected to reasonable and logical proposals for change. Debate and dialogue enables education and progress at every level. ———- "This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." - Thomas Jefferson to William Roscoe, December 27, 1820 If your authority and influence flows primarily from your position as a pastor .... from your seminary degree... or from your education... then your certification is of men, for men, by men... it can be controlled by men. It will be controlled by men.
If your leadership and authority flow from Christ, from the Holy Spirit and from your Father, then your ministry and influence is free to use the organizations and systems of men to influence and empower rather than be in power. Do you draw your confidence, your mandate, your mission : from your age... your tenure in job... your money... your success... even your failures ? ... all of these are things of men. We cannot lead authentically when we remain in the core of the equation. We must lead and teach as a mirror for God working in His world rather than men speaking on behalf of some earthly certification authority. Finding a balance here is the central question of leadership and ministry in our time. To empower and/or be in power is nothing without love. As for me and my house... we will serve the Lord. We will use organizations and systems of men as tools in that pursuit. From FB, to local churches, to choirs, to classes... the mission is clear. Authorities can’t fully protect us against individual depravity in a free country. We must recognize the problem is within our hearts and minds. We cannot continue like this my friends. We must live together more fully and love one another more completely. We must protect and value one another. Every life is precious. Every one.
Is your leadership more interested in who is in charge or what is being done? Or more often what is not being done...
I know what I see all too often. Not so much from members but from leaders... even for me, it is a constant struggle to remain aware and open and listening and seeking and encouraging... not dictating and demanding. Resources drive outcomes. People, process, and tools... in that order. Leading and inspiring people is HARD. Easy to dictate and then fail... sigh. Cycle repeats itself over and over at every level of every organization. #Church #corporation #government #associations #clubs Lots of talk about toxic leadership communications and styles... in governments, companies, teams, even churches and families: themes are the same
my definition and thoughts: doing more harm than good with no positive outlook or plans on display... it is like fighting a disease... you can’t kill the patient while you make them more healthy... and what definition of healthy is valid? Organizations and governments are organisms. Living and breathing. See the systems. See the leaders. See the levers of change and gauge words and actions... Principles and practice merge into plans which must improve results. To leaders everywhere. In order to get what you want, first you must know what you want. Then start pulling levers. Don’t destroy divide and diminish unless you plan to kill the patient or have a path to recovery laid out. #leadersermons |
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