Phrases That Stick

It happens to me all the time. I'll be in a conversation with somebody and they will say something that will stick in my brain. Usually I'll start thinking about it and zone out for the rest of the conversation. This is bad, especially when I'm doing marriage counseling or something like that. I think I am going to start posting about some of those phrases.

The one that I've been thinking about lately happened when I was talking to a young guy about some of his frustrations with the way he was being managed at work. He said, "I don't mind being told the 'what' but please don't tell me the 'how'" In other words, if you hired me to do a specific job please let me figure out the best way to do it. The reason that it has stuck with me is that I'm trying to figure out if it is a principle that works or not. When applied to ministry I think it does...if we are hiring somebody to make it happen in singles ministry, should we be telling them how to do it or should we let them use their skill and leadership to figure it out? It sounds like a no brainer to me. The "what" is a certain % of singles attending, serving, connecting, growing in their faith, etc. When we start telling them how to do it, we risk stifling their creativity and leadership and we essentially create robots - really frustrated robots.

Have we created environments that encourage people to use their brain or are we just looking for people who will do what we tell them to do? Something I am wrestling with. I am thankful that I work in an environment that encourages me to be creative and make it happen.