November 13, 2015
Leadership
Leif Babin, former Navy Seal
and co-author of “Extreme Ownership,” spoke about leadership during a FOX News
segment. He said those in leadership positions need to “…acknowledge failure
and own their mistakes.” We rarely see that from politicians, but the same can
be said about Christians. It’s easy for me to say I’ve failed, made mistakes
and sinned…but quite another matter to take ownership and cite details and particulars
to someone else. I’m not sure I can even remember the last time I confessed my
sin to someone. James said, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----We’ve been called to a new life which will instantly change into perfection at the redemption of our material bodies. In the meantime, our poor spirits, having been raised as eternal and joined with the Holy Spirit, suffer within the shame and weakness our temporal nature continues to be. Knowing that Jesus Christ is Truth and reigns over all things eternally should frame our thinking about the little problems and tragedies pecking at our faith and hope continuously. Our faith and hope can remain strong only while we consider our High Priest, who has gone before us to His Father.
-----Meanwhile, here in the bullyhood, we are left to our own natures for the overcoming of our difficulties. "Oh, but I thought we only overcome through Christ." Yes we do, but Christ does not thrust Himself upon anyone (except maybe Saul, who consequently became Paul when he got back some eyesight.) The rest of us must work to make and maintain wise decisions about the things we must do and prepare and defeat. Life is complicated. And everyone has nearly a full slate of errors by the end of a day. Looking within myself, I see the sins and errors I can individually distinguish on my slate blur into the haze of complicated, minutely detailed, multitudinous thickets vanishing into a horizon the resolution of my mind is no longer able to grasp. And my heart proclaims to God, “Surely this little fishy’s fried if he has to confess every one of these individually.” To think I might have to confess every one of them to every brother I know would be to flip out of the frying pan right into the fire.
----I do think it is extraordinarily important to confess misdeeds to those against whom they were done. These confessions are stitches in the torn fabrics of relationships. And they are quite strong for as small as is the confessional thread. I believe that is principally what James meant by confess your sins to each other. The idea of running around telling everyone of what a lurid boy I am just doesn’t quite articulate with rest of the attitudes and objectives the Bible teaches. Yet wherever there is a major there seems also to be a minor. Some confession to the wiser and more loving siblings in the Lord seems to fit with the other biblical attitudes and objectives taught for our growth into holiness. Beyond that, it seems to me Romans 14:22 is operative, “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves.” Confession is not a ritual; it is a process of the Spirit’s working holiness into your soul. Therefore, it has applications and boundaries kind of like not casting your pearls before swine.
-----In this mess, we all in the Lord have proper work He needs done. Confession is not different than any other necessary work in the Lord in that it affects purposes for Him. Some are relationship stitches. Some is for the giving and receiving of good counsel. But little is for the mere drip, drip, dripping of ritual. The confessional booths some leaders have constructed for us only show their lack of understanding about the overarching truth the Lord is and how confession articulates into the new life He makes. “To him who conquers I will give…a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.” (Rev 2:17) We are not being led towards a life of utterly total public exposure, but towards one in which individuality and privacy are purposeful for the Lord.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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