Fletch’s Favorite Aphorisms

Insanity is Hereditary—You Can Get It from Your Kids

Being a grandparent is an ideal place in life. We get all the benefits of loving on those grandkids without the responsibly. Parenting is serious business. You have to pass a test to get a driver license (and, yes, “driver license” is the way that government’s issue the licenses, not “driver’s license”). No license is needed for the biggest role in your life … to be a parent. There are times when kids will seemingly make you insane for the day. As our kids grew older, I shared this aphorism with them. When they were in their teens, they would roll their eyes. Once married, and even more when kids came along, they saw the wisdom in the phrase. Sure, kids do zany things. Remember though, raising them is one of the ultimate privileges and pleasures in life. You are shaping the next generation.

Happiness Is a Choice

This is an aphorism that I learned while in seminary in the 1980s but the truth is the same today. Frank Minirth and Paul Meier wrote a small book with this title and many have used the phrase. All of us have plenty of headaches and challenges in life. These range from minor hassles to major crises. Our opportunity is to work through the challenges and accept the pain. Pain is not the enemy here. The enemy is discontent with ourselves, others and God. The goal is finding contentment in the good times and the bad times. We choose to work through issues and assert that our happiness is a choice. I may be in a tough place in life, but I can be content with God through it.

That is as Boring as Sin

I don’t know who created this aphorism. It is both true and false. The falsity is readily apparent. Doing “your own deal” with God’s moral precepts can feel like lots of fun. Few gossips who tear down the character of another will say that “it is boring.” Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun. Consider if we assembled a group of ten people. We then asked the first person to catalogue every misstep, sin, covert wrong and unknowing mistake that they ever made. It might be interesting to hear from the first person, perhaps even the second. By the third or fourth person, we all would be so bored. “Oh, that one again. That’s not very original.” We would say. We might even classify, sort and rank the sins. “Of money, sex and power … that one is a money sin, category greed, subtype theft by embezzlement, type 4c. We have heard that one before.” Sin may be original for us, but in the scope of humanity, it has all been done before.

Digital Film Is Expensive

I learned about photography when film was expensive. I shot with a camera that used 120 film and you only got 12 exposures on a roll. I carefully weighed every photo opportunity and only took pictures that had significance. Now with digital “film,” we can take hundreds of “free” photos. Wired magazine reports that the world upload 1.8 million photos each day. The article says: “The mobile revolution that Steve Jobs started put a camera in every pocket, along with the tools to edit them and, later, platforms like Facebook and Instagram on which to publish them. Anyone with a smartphone could capture a moment and share it in real time. Here I am at the party. Here I am at the concert. Here I am at the beach.” The aphorism is irony. Digital film is “free” to use, but costly in time to review all those images.

The Church Moves at Glacial Speed

This is so unfair to glaciers! Churches can move slower than sheets of ice. This is especially true when hiring staff or implementing changes. Weeks and months can pass and nothing happens. Then, like a glacier calving an iceberg, there is a flurry of action. With an announcing ‘boom,’ everything seems to happen at once. A better way is to set an orderly process of casting vision, planning, communication and process-implementation.

The Apple Watch Won’t Make You Exercise

There are two types of people in the world, those that love Apple products and those that hate them. A major news story criticized the Apple Watch because it did not make people exercise. This is confusing a tool with an action. If I buy a hammer, I shouldn’t carp, ‘that hammer didn’t build my new house.’ Tools only work when they are put into action. The journalist forgot that the Apple Watch is a tool. A tool is just a tool and will sit idly by until put into use. Human agents use tools with creative energy and sweat-producing intensity. When we confuse a tool and an action, we create excuses for our inactivity. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 6:10-11 NET Bible®

Parenting Is the Process of Letting Go

The most control that you will have over your child will be in the first year. When they learn to crawl, control begins to wane. Then they talk and walk. Soon they are off to school. Control really slows down then! In the teen years, kids are establishing themselves, sorting through who they are and will be. Before long, your child is marching down the wedding aisle. Along the way, you have instilled values that will help and guide them. Your child will need them to make the school yard decisions and major life plans. Your role as a parent is to slowly let go.

Your Lack of Planning Is Not My Emergency

Before the days of office copiers and home printers, the print shop was king. To get three hundred copies of a document, they would make plates and put your document on the press. This took time. Almost every print shop that I went to had similar signs: “You want it when?” or the picture of Goofy painting the words “Plan Ahead” and not leaving enough room for the “d” at the end of “Ahead.” There is a place for us to go the extra mile and help. Sometimes we need to exercise tough love and say, “I can’t help you right now” or “Get in line behind the others.”

Opt for the Easy and Discover the Shallow

Fast food has changed the way that we view time and convenience. I can pull into the drive-thru, order, pay and get my food in just a few minutes. We often want this with the rest of life. Encounter a problem and easy solutions can seem the best. We can be over-and-done with that crisis in just a few minutes. Fast solutions to big problems leave us as shallow people. Having platitudes as solutions keep us from wrestling with the ultimate questions of life. Our souls need more than junk food. When faced with the death of a loved one, we need to wrestle with end of life issues. We need to slowly walk through the steps of grief and recovery. When the big issues in life hit the fan, we need to take time to work through them. Pain causes us to grow in ways that pleasure can’t.

Slander is Poison to the Bartender

In these mortal and fragile lives that we lead, it is all too easy to speak poorly of others. Another word for this is “slander.” The words can come out all too easily. Someone has hurt us and we want to strike back. In this case, we don’t address our issues to the person who hurt us, but to everyone else. We have become bartenders to slander. That drink is poison. We encourage the listeners to drink it and we drink it ourselves. This poison corrupts who we are and how others view us.

Filter Your News

On the internet, the news media makes money by selling advertisements. CBS doesn’t make money when you read CNN. A news site makes money when you see/click on ads on their site. This desire for viewers can taint stories into what is called “yellow journalism … scandal-mongering or sensationalism.” The sensational articles are the news media equivalent of fast food. They seemingly taste good but have no nutritional value. Skip the fast food news articles. Go for articles of substance.

Sermons for the Overfed

Spiritual overeating is when the amount of teaching consumed is larger than what is put into practice. Charlie Christian attends church every week and is in a home study. He also listens to two different sermon podcasts during the week on his commute to work. Adding all that together, Charlie is hearing over 200 messages a year. Our friend Charlie is getting great teaching and input. However, he is so focussed on getting more information that he is not putting much of anything into practice. Many weeks he can barely remember what any of the messages said, let alone consider how to apply them.

Equal Opportunity Ignorer

Suppose her name is Shelly. She will ignore what you say, your friends say and what her family says. She is physically present in those conversations but not intellectually engaged. Shelly is waiting for the next opportunity to give her thoughts. She wants to say something more, not hear your views. Don’t feel badly. Shelly is not being mean just to you, as she treats everyone this way. She is an equal opportunity ignorer.

Talk to Your Spouse/Talk to Yourself

How you talk to your spouse says volumes about how you view yourself. Talk to him badly, then you will talk to yourself badly. Talk to her with anger, rudeness and irritation, then you are talking to yourself the same way. You can’t separate how you talk to your spouse and how you talk to yourself.

YP—Your Problem

Sometimes we take someone else’s problem and make it our own. In doing that, we don’t allow them the pleasure and pain of solving a problem by themselves. It can make them dependent on us to solve future problems. What many people need is support and encouragement. They don’t need you to solve their problems. There is a time to keep the issues as YP.

Starbucks Is Cheaper than Shoes

A problem in many marriages is that men don’t give their wives what they want. My wife thoroughly enjoys a Trenta Black Iced Tea from Starbucks. If possible, she would like that every day. So, for a few bucks, we have a regular date at Starbucks. It is just 15 minutes or so and the results linger all day in a happy wife. I’m just glad that she doesn’t want a new pair of shoes every day. Can you think how expensive it would be just to store all those shoes?

Not Invented Here Syndrome

New governing board members can bring in the not invented here syndrome. It comes out with phrases like, “I wasn’t on the board when that decision was made” and “That happened before my time.” What is meant is, “I don’t agree with that decision. I wasn’t in a position of authority so that decision doesn’t count.” There is a time to review, investigate and discuss prior board decisions. Often tens of hours have been invested in a board decision. Confidential information is often considered in making a momentous decision. To reopen an item for discussion takes formal action by the board. Until a governing board decides to review a past decision, it stands for all future boards.

Crisis Defines Maturity

I got one poor grade in High School, in Spanish. My memory recalls no other grades except that one. It was a defining moment. I had to accept that it was my fault for the grade and learn from my mistakes. A poor grade is a minor crisis to an adult, but not to a teenager. Adults cope with not being able to pay a mortgage, being fired from work, a challenge in marriage. These crisis events provide a time to grow in our spiritual maturity. They are opportunities to understand life in new and deeper levels. We could ask, “Why is this happening to me?” Instead, we need to focus on how God is forming our character. A crisis is a time to live out Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Anyone can be kind in good days. It takes a person of spiritual maturity to be gracious and loving in the midst of life’s challenges. These are the times that form who we are for the rest of our lives.

130 Trillion Web Pages

A vital principle that I learned in college was not to know all the data or read every book. The solution was to know where to find needed information. A library in the Renaissance era might have contained upward of 1,000 books. It was feasible for a learned person to have read all of those tomes and literary pieces. In my college years, a large library would contain 100,000 books. If one had the luxury or reading ten books a day, seven days a week, it would take 27 years to read the entire library. It was impossible to read all the books. In 2016, the search engine Google reported that there were 130+ trillion web pages. It would take 130 billion days, at 1,000 pages a day, to read them all. That comes to 356+ million years of reading. The impossibility of reading everything has multiplied to the absurd.

Artificial Dis-Intelligence

At first blush, most of us would say, “I don’t rely on artificial intelligence.” Perhaps we do! I rely on the automatic spelling in my word processor so that I don’t have to remember the spelling of every word. Though I enjoy the machine working for me, this is artificial dis-intelligence. I rely on terabytes of indexed information to sort trillions of pages of web data. Consider doing a search in Google’s engine for the word “love.” It returns 12.5 billion results. Narrowing the search to “love of self” returns 1.5 billion pages. Narrowing it further to “love of self in postpartum depression” gives over 143 million pages. Even adding, “Harvard journal love of self in postpartum depression,” one finds 463,000 pages. The algorithm-based sorting of pages presents “the top hits.” At best I read the first 50 or 100 suggestions. I trust a mathematical formula to present me salient items to read. I can only absorb so much information and rely on the search engine’s algorithm to select pages for me. Albeit essential, this is artificial dis-intelligence.

Hoops to Jump Through

Sometimes in challenging conversations with staff, we fail to share real concerns about job performance or fit. Instead, we will set a high hoop for the person to jump through. The hoop could be the number of people in a program, an educational attainment, or some other such thing. The problem comes when the person jumps through the hoop. Their area may grow or they may get a new educational degree. Now you have someone who has jumped through your hoop. Yet, they are still not a fit with other staff members. What will you do now? The staff person did what you asked. Instead of setting artificial hoops for the person, address the real issues. If they are not getting along with their peers, it is better to say that. Speak the truth about the staff issue. Don’t set an artificial hoop. They may jump through it.

Don’t Hire Friends Because They Are Friends

Hiring a friend often occurs because you know and trust them. You like them. These are great attributes—knowing, trusting and liking. It certainly beats hiring people you don’t know, trust or like! However, your judgement can be clouded when hiring friends. You can overlook or downplay their deficiencies. They may not be the best fit for the role or staff culture of your church. Sometime friends bypass their supervisor and come to you with their staff issues. Will you allow this to happen? When hiring a friend, you need to consider whether you could ever transition them off of staff … in other words, can you fire them? Ouch. Get good input from trusted advisors before hiring a friend. Don’t hire a friend just because they are your friend.

The Best Place in Life Is Not Being on a Church Staff

How can you say that? I was on a church staff for 35 years! Pastors often think that the only place that they can work is within the church walls. It makes sense because they have often trained and gotten extensive education in pastoral work. However, good ministry and service to others can happen in many other environments. Business people who are Christ-followers are living out their faith everyday in the marketplace and personal ministry. We need pastors. Even better, we need pastors whom God has called to serve in their churches. If God is leading you to something else, it is not the end of ministry. Your following Jesus is not dependent on where you get a paycheck or where you work. The answer is found in a related saying: The best place in live is to be where God wants you to be.

I Was Standing There Following You When You Walked Away

Sometimes you hear a phrase and it sticks with you. My wife and I were at Disneyland more than 25 years ago. We heard a couple loudly accosting each other. The man said, “I was standing there following you when you walked away.” It doesn’t make any sense and that is what caused it to stick with us. Either he was standing in one place or he was following her. It couldn’t have been both! We all say the craziest things when we are angry. In a public place like Disneyland, everyone around you gets to hear your nonsensical accusation. We use this phrase to remind ourselves as a couple to resolve conflict while it is small. When conflict does arise, try to simply state the facts and how you felt about them. Don’t inflate the issue with grandiose statements that often don’t make any sense.

Where Was the Man When He Jumped Off the Bridge?

Prof. Norman Geisler introduced me to this logic riddle. If you answer, “on the bridge,” the retort is “that was before he jumped.” If you answer, “in the air,” the retort is “that was after he jumped.” The purpose of the riddle is to show that some questions cannot be answered. They contain mistakes of logic that prevent an answer. Not every question should be taken at face value. Some questions need to be questioned, parsed and then possibly answered.

Wash Your Hands

Every parent has said this repeatedly to their child. “Go to the faucet, use soap, and wash your hands.” I took this for granted until the city of Austin had silt in the water. This season has had so much rain that the city water purification system could “only” produce 100 million gallons of water a day. They normally produce 300 million gallons of water each day. The city recommended that people wash their hands with soap, then use purified water to rinse off. That purified water needed to come from a bottle or from home-boiled sources. Suddenly, washing our hands had become an expensive chore. “I don’t want to use that expensive water to wash my hands! That bottle of water costs money! It took us an hour to boil and cool it.” Every day we take small things for granted, like clean water. In the future, washing my hands will take on new meaning … once the city restores clean water!

Burn a Bridge When You Leave, Smell the Smoke Forever

It is so easy to be upset and say the wrong thing when you leave a church. The problem with ‘burning bridges’ is that people remember what you said. Even more, you will remember your words for a lifetime. While you may justify those words to yourself, you know that they were wrong. You will smell the smoke forever. Better is to leave well. Bless those around you. Have kind words. Speak the truth in love. Be gentle. If you were treated poorly, don’t return evil for evil. Bless those who curse you.

My Favorite Rabbi is from Nazareth

A Rabbi is a Jewish teacher. We often forget that Jesus is called a Rabbi in the Scriptures. We also forget that he was Jewish. His teaching amazed his listeners. It was stunning, nothing like they had ever heard before. I like to say that “My favorite Rabbi said …” Then I like to quote something from the New Testament. It helps us remember the context of Jesus’ life and teaching.

Let’s not Confuse Facts with Feelings

All of us can make a decision based on feelings. It might be that new car or that new dress. We decide on what ‘feels good’ in the moment. There can be nothing inherently wrong with an emotionally-based decision. The price tag on that new car or dress might be hard to explain. Our spouse might want the reasons for the sporty car over the family sedan. At that point, we retreat to feelings over facts. We try to come up with flimsy facts to support our emotional decisions. They fall flat. We have confused facts with feelings.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Theme parks and museums have become experts in how people leave a ride or exhibit. The designers know that people will “buy stuff” when they exit through the gift shop. When Tami and I went through an art exhibit, it was both compelling and disturbing to exit through the gift shop. The good aspect was that we could easily purchase a book about the traveling exhibit. The down side is that we were inundated with so much junk that we could buy. Do we really need a Van Gogh refrigerator magnate or door bell? Hmmm …

A Clean Desk

W.C. Fields had a great comic sketch from the 1935 film “The Man on the Flying Trapeze.” He had an enormous roll top desk that had hundreds of files messily deposited on it. Yet, he could find any document in seconds. Most of us are not like that. When we get to work in the morning, a huge plus to productivity is a clean desk. In 1933, Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” Many of us need a place free from clutter. Your productivity will most likely increase when you can focus on the vital projects for today, not distracted by piles of junk everywhere.

Overeducated Beyond My Intelligence

Many folks will say, “I’m overeducated beyond my intelligence.” This oft misquoted phrase comes from a 1922 Harvard monograph in education by Dearborn, Lincoln & Shaw. Their exact wording was, “over-educated beyond their performance ability.” The context was that school children, “pass examinations and acquire knowledge, but are unable to use their acquired knowledge successfully in any occupation of high intellectual level.” The problem with more and more education is that we may not be able to use it in real life. We pass exams in school but can we successfully master the test of life?

That’s Not Your Water to Carry

Ever have a discussion where you realize that you are trying to solve another person’s problem? You may soon take on their real or perceived problem as your own. It’s wonderful to help someone with their issues, but at some point we all have to realize that the problem is theirs, not ours. Speak your mind and give solid input. Then let the person do their work.

So Much Junk on Television

It’s always interesting to hear someone say, “there is so much junk on television.” One person said, “Who watches the Home Shopping Network?” Another said, “Does anyone watch the reruns of … (fill in the blank)? Those who schedule programs look at data about their viewers. They measure how many people watch each show. Their advertising revenue depends on people watching their content. Shows are scheduled because people watch them. There is so much junk on television because we watch it.

NMP—Not My Problem

As Christians we want to help others. As Jesus said, “love others …” There is a time when our desire to help can be meddling in another person’s issues. A fellow staff person may not want your input or help. The problem may be outside of your job description. At that point, it’s a good thing to back away. Say to yourself, “NMP.” Sticking your nose in other people’s business will brand you as a busybody. When your ideas are not wanted in another person’s area, say again, “NMP.”

God in Your Crisis

The typical foxhole prayer is, “God help in this mess.” That’s the equivalent of a 90 yard pass in the last seconds of a football game. It’s not a bad prayer but puts God at the margins of your life. God wants to be at the center of your life. He wants to form your spiritual character in everyday events and the crisis. So, when we turn to Him just at the critical moment of a crisis, what are we saying? We often mean, “I don’t have any other help at this last stand, so let me ask God.” God may be absent in your crisis because you only give Him a passing nod on the other days. Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and that was in the context of a life of close fellowship with the Father. Yes, cry out in the crisis and have it grounded in a life of closeness to Him.

Watch the News before Sleeping, Dream of Violence

Sleep is the time when our minds sort through the memories of the day. What you mentally take in immediately before bedtime can affect how you sleep. How you gone to bed angry? The apostle Paul says, “don’t let the sun go down on your anger, lest you give the devil a foothold.” There is a mystical element of anger that allows evil to take root in our sleep. So it is with the nightly news. Take in the latest evils of society and they can take root while you sleep. The violence shown in bedtime newscasts will stay with you. It will infect your dreams and ability to have quality sleep. Proverbs 3:24 says that your sleep can be “sweet.” This takes some action on your part too! Guard what you watch before sleep. Go to bed with a peaceful mind and enjoy your dreams.

Criticizing Others Reflects My Insecurities

Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby quoted his father: “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” God has given us all so many gifts. Why carp about others? We are insecure and hope to feel better by belittling them. My sharp criticism says more about me than about their actions. A better way is to deeply enjoy the security that Jesus offers. “Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” Matthew 11:29-30 NET Bible®.

Fail with Excellence

Many individuals and churches have the value of “excellence.” It seems that we often ‘fail with excellence.’ In Austin one year, I just didn’t fall off my bicycle, but I broke nine bones doing it. That is ‘failing with excellence.’ Accidents, mistakes and defeat are going to happen. Some fail because of valuing the wrong objectives. Some pseudo-wins are ‘pyrrhic victories.’ These victories cost so much that they are tantamount to failure. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44-45: “But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Failure is going to rain down at some point in our lives. A good response to ‘failing with excellence’ is to see that God works in all things—to honor Him on the sunny and rainy days.

Laugh Today Because It Is Today

We all have plenty of reasons for angst in today’s society. The tension that we feel is like that of the early church … we live in a violent society. The apostle Paul said it so well in Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” Net Bible ®. So as you can, laugh and enjoy what God is doing today. Tomorrow has enough of its own problems. Celebrate today and laugh. See the good things that God is doing and the humor in today’s events. Laughter is great medicine for the soul.

Humor, Trace

I’m guilty of having dry humor, sometimes arcane or zany. I can’t tell a canned joke to save my life. Spontaneous humor, puns, play on words, situational comedy … these are my bread and butter. Problems arise with newcomers in my life. They don’t know that I have shifted gears, going from the serious to verbally playful. Without a verbal clue, people think that my outlandish stretching of a story is really the truth. So emerged the helpful line at the end of story, pun or joke: “humor, trace.” And for those more literal-minded people, it lets them know to laugh. Humor, trace.

Parenting is Simple—Any Child Can Operate One

To get a driver license, you pass the state test. To get a high school or college degree, you attend four years of classes. However, to become a parent, just wait nine months. Often the only exams that are used are pregnancy and ultra-sound. Kids sense this lack of skilled preparation. They are born with skills to get their parents to do what they want. Kids innately possess abilities that range from tears to coy smiles, tantrums to angelic playtimes. Kids can “operate a parent” with amazing ease. And now, I’m a grandparent. I’m “out of the pan and into the fire.” My granddaughter soon will be asking for my Amex card …

The Check is in the Mail

Your church is about to receive a $100 million dollar donation from a prince via email. Your uncle is giving you his Ferrari. Your church wants to give you a 50% raise. Oops, it is April Fool’s Day! All of those get the same response, “the check is in the mail.” It just isn’t going to happen. I can’t claim ownership to this adage but love to use it. The Quote Investigator found that “in 1897 Mark Twain released a travel book titled ‘Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World,’ and the fifteenth chapter presented the following epigraph. Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

Set Event Horizon at Six Months, Minimum

Church leaders need to have a grasp of the day-to-day. More vital is that leaders plan and strategize for the future. How will today’s unemployment figures help or hinder hiring in six months? Will there be a glut or dearth of people who are looking for a job? What are the major activities that are planned or need to be planned for the next six months, one year and two years? Those need massive planning of human and financial resources. Church leaders need to set an event horizon at six months, minimum.

Bitterness is a Choice

We all have choices. Two psychiatrists, Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, taught me at Dallas Seminary. They wrote a book, “Happiness Is a Choice.” There should be another book, “Bitterness is a Choice.” I couldn’t find that title on Amazon. It would probably never sell. However, we all know that it is true. People choose to hold on to bitterness. Sure, I get mad and bitter at things. As the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity.” Every day I need to release those things that make me angry and bitter. Why hold onto them? Some mystical thing happens when we sleep with angry and unresolved thoughts. Perhaps if someone would write that book, the title should be “Bitterness Is a Bad Choice.”

Bitter in a Christian Sort of Way

Of course, this is an oxymoron. Yet, we see it all the time. A person is bitter and a regular church attender. They can’t let go of something in their past. They are bitter. But, as a Christian, they can express it in a ‘Christian sort of way.’ It might come out as a prayer request or a ‘thought for leadership.’ What is really being expressed in part of their bitterness in life.

Every Single Problem is a Leadership Problem

Recently, I was talking to Kevin Peck, the Lead Pastor of Austin Stone Church. Back in 2005, they were a church of about 800 in worship. Now they have six campuses with about 6,000 or so in worship. I’m not giving you the numbers to “wow” you but to say that God is showing these guys lots of favor. Kevin said, “Every single problem is a leadership problem.” Think this through with me: First, think of the three largest issues, problems or complaints at your church. Just to make it a good exercise; write them down. 1, 2 and 3. Second, jot down whose “fault” the problem is. Most of us will write who began the problem. Don’t stop there! Explore the ongoing nature of the problem. How has leadership addressed the problem? Third, do I really need to go any further? Well, just to be complete, here is a list of three common problems in churches: “We don’t have enough money.” “We have a person who is gossiping.” “We are stuck in a rut and not growing.” Each of these seems to be problems in themselves. Perhaps they are caused by others or are self-inflicted. But what is the real problem? As I see it, leadership needs to address each one: Leadership needs to change its spending plan or teach on generosity. Leadership must gently confront the person who is gossiping. Leadership is required to set a vision that focuses on Jesus and His kingdom. Hmmmm … maybe Kevin is onto something in his statement.

A Private Hallway Conversation

There you are in the hallway. A friend joins you and before you know it, you are having a confidential conversation. The problem is that you are in a public space. If you want to have a private conversation, go to a private place. Don’t get mad that others overhear your hallway conversation. Many a time I have had a hallway conversation, only to have a staff member laugh at one of our jokes. I like to then call out, “Hey, this is a private hallway conversation.” The staff member knows that I am poking fun at myself for thinking that anything said in a public place would be private. It is a reminder to me. Move to a private place for confidential conversations.

Change or Die

In America we have the popular maxim, Change or Die. Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, showing our popular American phrase has its roots in Greek antiquity. Heraclitus said, “Everything changes, πάντα χωρεῖ.” Heraclitus was born in Ephesus which is now a dead city. Everything changes or dies! Heraclitus is the one who gives us that great image of change and the river: Everything changes and nothing remains still; you can’t step twice into the same stream.