Last night was an interesting night. We had a Launch Team meeting and my goal was to lead our team through a discussion to discover a deeper understanding of the core values that are going to drive the formation of this new church.
Sounds easy enough right? Right, except I did a lousy job of communicating precisely what I was looking for and as a result the night was full of uncertainly, tangents, questions and not nearly as much productivity as I was hoping for. Now it would be easy to chalk that up as a lost night and get frustrated. But even as I lay in bed last night trying to rethink how I present this mission to our team I was encouraged.
One of my values as a leader is a team that is willing to speak their heart and minds. Community is stronger when you can be unified even in the middle of disagreement. If my team see's things different than me I want them to have the freedom to speak up. Unity does not equal conformity. In fact unity in the midst of diversity is a key to true loving community.
This seemed to be a theme in my life yesterday.
In the morning I visited Eagle Creek church in Lee's Summit (great church by the way.) And one of the key verses was Proverbs 27:6 "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses"
A bit later Rick Warren tweeted this thought: "An unhealthy climate on a church staff is likely caused by being afraid to say the last 10% of difficult truth to each other" I think that's true for all of our relationships.
Do you value people who disagree with you? So you search out friends who are willing to "wound" you when you need it? Are you willing to be a friend to says the last 10% in a loving way. Or do you start a fight every time someone starts a discussion? Do you run every time someone disagrees?
When iron sharpens iron there are always sparks, get used to it. You should thank God for those who challenge your thoughts and opinions.
And if you have a problem with that... great!
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