Oh, Now I See.....

John Chapter 9 - You never know what can happen in a day

John chapter 9 contains a very famous story about a miracle that Jesus performed. There was a man who had been blind since birth who was sitting by the side of the road. Jesus, spit in some dirt, rubbed it on his eyes, had him wash in the river, and gave the man sight. Can you even imagine how happy the man must have been? Seeing for the first time as a grown man!!

The man was overjoyed and obviously told anyone who would listen what had happened to him. Word obviously spread about the good news. When the Pharasees heard about this, they had the man brought in front of them for questioning....This is where the story gets interesting.

First, the Pharasees tried to question whether the man had ever really been blind in the first place. They tried to explain away a miracle by calling the man's word into question. They even had the man's parents brought before them to verify the man had been blind since birth. So their first tactic was to discredit the source of the story. The parents were willing to testify that the man had been blind, and could now see, but they were afraid to testify to how it had happened. This often happens. People are willing to comment on the before and after circumstance, but are afraid about supporting the "how".
Let's pause for a moment to focus on the blind man's behavior to this point.

1. He was blessed with the gift of sight after years of blindness
   
2. He told anyone who would listen about what had happened and HOW it had taken
   place
   
3. When questioned by authorities, he gave an honest account of what happened
   
4. When pressed further,he began to advocate for Jesus, beginning to fill in the"why"
   of the miracle....He stated that Jesus must be a prophet because a demon would not
   do good deeds
   
5. He was willing to risk punishment and ridicule for telling the truth and not
   compromising his story, or allowing it to be dismissed.
   

At any point in this story, the man could have caved in to the pressure that the Pharasees put on him and just gone away, happy that he could see. However, we see him stand behind his story, even when his parents backed down, up to the point of eventually being cast out of the temple.

After he was cast out, we see him interact with Jesus again. Jesus revealed himself to the man and blessed him. Finally we see the story end by Jesus making a point to the Pharasees that even those who have sight can be blind to what is important.
So how does this apply to leadership?

I think there are two main things I take away from the story:

1. Weshouldalwaysbereadytospeakthetruthaboutwhatwewitnessand experience. There would have never been an opportunity for Jesus to make his point at the end of the chapter if the blind man would have just gone off by himself to enjoy his new gift of site. Leaders have to step up and be willing to make important stories public.
   
2. Whenyourstorygetspressuredbythosewhoaretryingtoexplainawaywhatis happening, you need to stand in the pocket and not let the information be trivialized or explained away.
   

This man had no idea what was going to happen to him when he woke up that morning. Jesus chose to use him and his situation to prove a point to the Pharasees. If the blind man had not told his story, and been willing to defend how and why it happened, then the teaching moment at the end would have never been possible.

I can think back to multiple times in my life when I caved to peer pressure when I knew that the right thing to do was to speak the truth. I wonder how many of those moments Jesus was trying to use to prove a point to someone who was with me. I wasted an opportunity....

I don't think the size of the moment matters because we can't predict the size of the outcome. Also, I think that God uses us in small ways, before he uses us in big ways. So as I see these opportunities in the future, I will do more to communicate with conviction and defend the facts. Then, like the story in John, I will wait for Jesus to show up and see what happens....... 

Don't Judge Me.....

Wow!  It has been awhile since I have blogged....I am truly sorry to my 4 faithful blog followers.

I am currently studying the book of  John and thought now would be as good a time as any to re-open my blog.

In Chapter 7 in John, Jesus talks about judgement.  I think that there is a good examle of a trap that many of  us fall into when we are in a leadership postition.

At the begining of the chapter Jesus tells the story of the Pharasees bringing a prostitute to him and asking him what they should do to her.  In that time, the Law of Moses dictated that the lady should be stoned to death for her actions.  Jesus is careful not to say that the lady had not broken the law, or that stoning her would be inappropriate.  However, Jesus did point out that only those who had not sinned should feel able to throw the first stone.

This is the first place in this chapter that I can see a direct coorelation to the story and how we can become better leaders.  As leaders we are called to make tough decisions.  It is also brought to our attention when someone has acted inappropriately.  In a case where there are explicit rules in place that dictate the action we must take, our course is pre-set.  Often times, however, we have an opportunity to take the course that Jesus did in the above example.....

There is a difference between aknowledging when someone did something wrong, and judging them. When we aknowledge wrongdoing, we hold people accountable for not reaching an agreed upon standard of performance or conduct.  When we judge someone, we are making a statement about who they are as a person, and what their motivation to take that action was.  There is a line of demarcation between the two.  Judgement is final and often times personal.  The lable that is often attached will follow the judged for a long time.

We see Jesus making a statement about the judgement of the prostitute, and not about her actions.  In his eyes, all wrongdoing in equal, and just because you haven't been caught, or have a different area in which someone can find fault, does not give you the right to condem others.  Once that point is made, he still addresses the prostitute and tells her to "go, and sin no more".  Notice, he corrects her actions after everyone else leaves.  Unless it is absolutely necessary, do your correction in private.

So I would challange you, the next time that you are faced with a situation where somone is caught doing something that they shouldn't and others expect you to take extreme action, to take a moment to focus on the actions of the accusers.  Knowing that everyone will eventually fall short in their performance or behavior, set the expectation that the action is what needs to be addressed and not the person.  Point out what the expected behavior/performance needs to be and communicate where the gap lies, and then help the person understand that current behavior can not be continued.

The tone that you set will be one of inclusion and of learning.  When people know that you are displeased with actions (activities that can be looked upon objectively) vs. People (personalities that will be reacted to emotionally) they will see you as a teacher, that is concerned about helping people develope and perform to the best of their abilities.  They will realize that you understand that no one is perfect, that we all fall short of God, and that you just expect your people to stop acting in a manner that is unacceptable.  Love the person, Hate the behavior.

There will always be issues that arise where people want judgement placed on those around them.  Focus on rising above the emotion, focusing on the behavior, conduct the coaching in private, and setting the expectation that the behavior will not happen again, and you should see a culture that is built on trust, learning, and motivation.

Thanks for hanging in there with me....I will try to post again on a bi-weekly basis....I would still love any feedback that anyone has....