Just some thoughts.

Firstly, this:

11 Ways A Leader Can Serve The People He/She Works With December 16, 2010

I read Mark 10:35-45 the other morning and made a list of eleven ways that a leader can serve people (after all, Jesus said that is how to be a great leader.)
#1 – Adopt the mindset that these people work with me and not for me.
#2 – Provide enough margin for the people who serve with you to be creative and brainstorm ahead. (The pastor that works “week of” in regards to his message really does a great disservice to those who support him in regards to creative elements.)
#3 – Make sure that the people you serve with have the resources they need to do the job they are expected to do.
#4 – Say “thank you” and “great job” A LOT instead of just pointing out all of the areas where a person came up short.
#5 – Try your best to make sure that if an area of the church is going to be impacted by a certain decision that someone from that area had input in the decision making process. (Learned this one from Andy Stanley.)
#6 – Make sure the expectations for the people you lead are both spoken and realistic. (We cannot hold people accountable for unspoken, unrealistic expectations.)
#7 – Don’t confuse personal preferences with conviction from the Holy Spirit…if you tell the people you serve with that “God told me” then you had better be willing to bet your last Bible than you heard from the Lord!
#8 – Model what you consider to be important…in other words, when you are walking into the building and see a piece of trash on the ground…pick it up.
#9 – Listen to them!!!
#10 – Understand that your words weight 1,000 pounds…choose them carefully!
#11 – Understand that WHAT you say and HOW you say it matter…the people you serve with are human beings with hearts, minds and souls…they deserve to be treated as such.

Very important reminder for me. =) Basically about kindness and humility.

And I realize that's why so many (there I go talking again about this) socially-immature people turn others off: they fail to show kindness. After some recent musing, I realize that being socially mature is more than just doing the right thing. Everything goes back to these virtues: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And you don't need to be a smart person to practice these virtues. In fact all who practice these virtues are the truly wise people. Speaking the right word at the right time? Kindness / patience. Talking about what interests others, not just yourself? (I know one brother who goes on and on and on about his own pet topic, but doesn't show interest in others' pet topics...) Kindness again. =) Haha. Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but yes, sometimes life really is very simple. It's just not easy, that's all. But well, the good news of Christmas tells very simply: "The Word became flesh..." :) and that whoever believes in Him shall be saved.

Eternal life. So easy for us to get for free... because it was so hard for God to buy us back. But He did.

:)

Thinking also about always seeing the good side of things. To be honest, I think I had this attitude during my younger days as a Christian. Even when my parents had been on the verge of divorce one time, I was (of course) very worried, but chose to sing to God in the park at night how good He was. That was during my NS days.

But somewhere, something slipped along the way. Perhaps it was me, or others' influence or both. I guess I didn't want to be Pollyanna-ish, and wanting to be wiser and more "mature", I started thinking about the bad side of things.

Now that's not a bad thing. To be able to see the bad along with the good.

But ... that's not where we should stop. We need to see that good will ALWAYS win over bad. That it's not a "dualistic" worldview (aka the Warcraft saga), but simply the truth: one Supreme God who is GOOD and basically even the devil has to kowtow to him. Mystery upon mystery: why did God allow the fall to ever happen, why did he allow the devil (and still allows) to go and continue deceiving - even though He's going to crush the devil completely one day (and Satan knows it full well and is totally pissed off)... yet I think about it... it's part of a cosmic tale of redemption and free will and so on. :)

I like what Jinghe told me yesterday (while guffawing some more!!! crazy fella haha): "We can't see the whole of God's will fully. We can only see bits and pieces at a time." Profound words of wisdom... told while he was laughing over french fries. LOL. That's Jinghe for you. The laughing guru of McDonalds.

So. I think one of my New Year's resolutions is already very clear: practice kindness in every moment and every way. Have started with my parents haha. :) And... praise God, it really makes a huge difference. And... another resolution would be to wring whatever good I can see that God is doing even in the bleakest of situations. =) Theologically true too, amen.