Good news for election week

 

In many ways, our world has become a giant echo chamber of bad news. The twenty-four-hour news channels would have us believe that nothing good is happening in our world. In election weeks like this one, social media is chock full of dire predictions about what will happen to our nation if our candidate does not win. And, of course, to make it all the more complicated, Covid 19 is like a giant wet blanket that feels as if it is smothering our relationships, church life, and life in general. How much good news do you hear?

In Psalm 4:6, David speaks to this issue when he writes, “Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” You see, bad news is not an issue only of our time. Who can show us any good in a virtual sea of negativity? It is an excellent question and one that David had an answer for.

“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord,

You have filled my heart with greater joy

Than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

For you alone, O Lord,

make me dwell in safety.” 

-Psalm 4:6-8.

This is fascinating. People around David ask, ‘who can show us any good?’ because their eyes are on the events in the world around them, and all they perceived was an echo chamber of bad news. So they lived in discouragement with a negative attitude and an anxious and worried heart. But not David.

David’s perspective was different because he was not focused on the negativity of the world around him but on God, who is the ultimate good news in the sea of bad news. He is the antidote to bad news. He is the antidote to worry and anxiety that can permeate our beings. Think of the light of God’s face shining on you, as David says. According to Scripture, that is what he does all the time. That brings joy. “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.” Greater joy than the very best harvest, the very best paycheck. Our true source of joy is not to be found in the external world, which is fallen and broken, but in God, regardless of the circumstances around us.

This joy leads to peace. “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Would you like to lie down and sleep in peace? Those around David are asking, who can show us any good? And David rests in peace because he knows the Lord makes him dwell in safety. The world may not feel safe, but God is always safe. And He can bring us joy and peace if we focus on Him.

As our election season unfolds, don’t listen to the echo chamber of bad news. Instead, allow God’s face to shine on you, bring you true joy, and let His peace quiet your heart.

Don't irritate your staff with helicopter management

In my many years of consulting with organizations, one of the prevalent complaints of staff is the helicopter management of senior leaders. First, staff are responsible for something and work hard to figure it out. Then, a senior leader "helicopters" in to adjust or redo the plan.

I often ask staff how this management style makes them feel when they describe this to me. Their answer is almost always the same: They think that they are not trusted, their work devalued, and the energy they put into the work they had completed. It is one of the most disrespectful things a leader can do to their staff, who feel marginalized and unappreciated. Of course, this does not mean the leader meant to send those messages, but their actions do just that. Every time leaders do this, they lose major coinage with their staff. 

What are the reasons that this happens? 

• Often there needed to be more adequate conversation and dialogue before the project was assigned, leaving staff unaware of the leader's true intentions.
• Many leaders simply think they know best and believe it is their responsibility to make the calls.
• Often, leaders are moving way too fast to pay proper attention to what is happening leaving them with little time for dialogue, so they helicopter down, make their pronouncements, and then helicopter off again. Their touchdowns can leave chaos in their wake, and they are unaware of how their actions impact their staff.
• Many leaders think that things should be done one way: Their way. So when a different way is tried, they feel that they need to intervene. 

What is the answer? It is to understand what altitude one should be flying at and staying at that altitude, allowing others to fly at their altitude and do their work. There can always be discussion and dialogue, but those at lower altitudes often know much better the issues they are dealing with. I discuss this issue of altitude in my book Leading From The Sandbox. Understanding the proper altitude leaders should be flying is one of the critical components of healthy leadership.

Remember that every leader's actions have ripple effects on their staff. The more senior the leader, the more ripples there are. At times one must pivot quickly, and that is appreciated by staff. However, when senior leaders regularly dip down to 5,000 feet when they ought to be flying at 30,000 feet, they need to appreciate the impact on staff. Find your altitude, take the time to dialogue with staff, so you know where they are and what they are doing, and honor them as colleagues by not changing their plans on a whim.

Living beyond Politics

The political season is a test for every believer. In fact, it reveals a great deal about our character, our faith, and our belief system. 

Let's start with our character. The vitriol of the election season is harsh, strong, and unkind. Yet, even in the church, between believers, all too often, the tone and tenor of political conversations are no different than on Fox News or CNN. People often say, “Politics is a messy business.” They are right. But we do not need to vilify others or respond in anger. Even in politics, the fruit of the Spirit applies Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control.

We fail the character test if we cannot discuss issues that divide us with these qualities. It is easy to have the fruit of the Spirit in easy conversations. However, displaying that fruit in challenging discussions is far more critical. Remember, the Holy Spirit is either saddened or gladdened by our attitude in this season.

Then there is the issue of our belief system. Here is the question. Do we believe that our political party or any political party can save us as a nation? If anything can be learned from the Old Testament and God’s interactions with nations, He raises nations and leaders and brings them down when their sin or avoidance of Him becomes too great. A righteous and just government matters greatly, but our political parties cannot save us. I long ago concluded that it matters more who is in my house than who is in the White House. 

But the issue of our faith is the most critical question. There is an Old Testament promise that is often quoted but rarely followed. It is God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

If we genuinely believed that promise, we would spend far more time praying for our nation, living in personal righteousness, turning away from sin, and seeking His face in all our practices. And in doing so, we would be confident that God will hear from heaven and that their land would be healed. Why healed? Because every nation has practices and a past that they need healing from. Racism and a history of slavery are wounds from which our country desperately needs healing. Unfortunately, recent days have told us that the wounds are real and raw and that without healing, there will not be reconciliation, justice, or righteousness. 

We don’t believe that all people are made in the image of God. Many decry the scourge of abortion in this country. But what do you suppose God thinks about racism, exclusion, and injustice? Yet the church is largely silent on these issues and has married itself to a political party as if people cannot vote for either party and be disciples of Jesus. God is asking us to care about the things He cares about, and He wants us to humble ourselves (yes, as Christian people), truly seek his face, and turn from our sinful ways, and He will heal our land. 

This election will not solve our nation's problems. A new Supreme Court justice will not solve them either. Only God can, and it will only be when His people choose to live beyond politics and follow Him and seek what He desires that this nation, or any nation, will be blessed. Healing does not start in the White House. It begins in our house.

Three distinct ways to plan your life and one that actually works

 

It is always interesting to ask people how they actually live their lives. Most of us assume that we live by our stated priorities, but when I ask individuals how they translate what they say is important to them into their weekly and monthly schedule, I am often met with silence or a request for suggestions.

There are three primary ways that people plan their lives.

The first strategy is to live by your options.

All of us have an unlimited number of options available to us. I might say no to someone asking me out for an evening dinner but yes to a more attractive option. When I asked a friend recently about his strategy for planning his week, he said, "I don't have one." When I asked how he made decisions about what he did outside of work, he said, "It depends on the options." In other words, on any given day, the best option wins the prize for how he spends his time.

The problem with living by your options is that it does not consider what is essential to you and does not necessarily contribute to a well-lived life. It is a common strategy but not one designed to help you accomplish what you want to achieve in life. On the upside, it takes little planning or effort.

The second strategy is to live by the expectations of others.

This strategy is a trap that many fall into, especially those who are prone to please others. Everyone has some sort of agenda for our lives: Family, friends, employer, colleagues, church....you name them. These are things that others think should be important to us. They are not things we feel are important to us, but we have a hard time saying no and living our lives by the rules of others rather than our values. 

This strategy is obviously not planned. It is reacting. Further, it usually causes an underlying frustration, if not anger, when we realize we do not control our destiny. One of the most liberating skills is the ability to say no and feel good about it. Not to be contrary but to ensure that we live according to what we believe to be most important. To live by the expectations of others is to give others the ability to determine what is essential for us to do - an abdication of our own responsibility.

The third strategy is to live by a planned calendar based on what we believe our priorities are.

There are two caveats here. The first is that we have done the hard work to determine the priorities of our lives. There is no well-lived life that has not first determined what is important and what one wants to accomplish. 

This is because all priorities take time, and time is the most precious commodity we have as individuals. Money comes and goes, but time only goes, and you cannot get it back. Every obligation we choose or agree to has a time check attached. Just as we write financial checks, we also write time checks. They are ultimately more important than how we spend our money because they determine what we accomplish in life. 

There is a second caveat. You must connect your priorities to your calendar in a proactive way to live them out. If your priorities are the compass for your life, your calendar is the clock. Unless the compass is connected to the clock, those things you value will not have the attention you desire. Thus, your priorities go on your monthly calendar before anything else. This is the only way to plan your life that ultimately works (if you believe in your values and priorities). What one does not reserve time for usually does not get done.

If you look at your calendar today, does it reflect what is truly important to you? Are those essential things actually on the calendar?