Giving Up On Being a Maverick

A few years ago, I was taking a Leadership course where we had to write (and present) a paper about ourselves in ten years.  One of the topics was “how will others see you in ten years?” 

I decided that I wanted people to see me as a bit of a maverick – someone who doesn’t always play by the rules and isn’t overly concerned what people think about me.  I want to be the guy in the back of the room that only speaks up from time to time and says the oddest things… but is usually right!

“Be a maverick” has kind of stuck in my head.

Just in case you’re insanely curious (like me), here’s an interesting Mental Floss post on the origin of the word.

Since last May, I’ve been writing my personal leadership philosophy.  As I was editing it today, I noticed the phrase “strive to be a maverick”.

As I’m sure you are well aware, “maverick” has become a bit overused lately.  In fact, Lake Superior State University has added “maverick” to it’s 2009 list of banned words. 

So… thanks to John McCain and Sarah Palin, I’m having to revise my leadership philosophy. 

Thanks a lot!!!  Makes me feel even better about voting for the other guy.

It used to be a such good word…

Ridiculous…

AP study finds $1.6B went to bailed-out bank execs last year.

600 executives took home an average of $2.6M.

Ridiculous…

Keeping a Firm Grip on our Character

A few days ago, I started reading 1 Timothy.  I’d like to share two verses which have jumped out at me:

“…keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we’re in. There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith.” – 1 Timothy 1:19

“Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it.” – 1 Timothy 4:16

I don’t know about you, but I noticed a theme in these two verses.  Keep a firm grip on yourself.  Keep a firm grasp on your character.

I think most of us usually only keep a loose grip on our character. Yes we have rules and values.  But do we set up a forcefield around our character?  Or do we sometimes hide our character from others?

Character is often defined as “moral or ethical strength”.  I think that character has two components – private and public.

My sister gave me a coffee mug when I graduated from college. It reads, “Character is who you are when only God is watching.” Do we do the right thing when no else is around keeping score?

But there’s a public aspect too; it makes up part of our witness to others.  Back to 1 Timothy… the second half of verse 12 in chapter 4 says “Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.”

When we fail to keep a firm grip on our character, it can easily slip away.  We can lose our credibility with others, but more importantly we can hurt our relationship with God.

Share-it Saturday, October 25

It’s halftime of the OSU – Texas game, so I thought it would be a good time to post today’s Share-it Saturday links.

• Rock Band 2 to add Kutless and Underoath songs.
• Take the 2008 Reader’s Choice survey from Christian Music Today.
• Great post on Perfection vs. Excellence in the church.
• Halloween treats that kids won’t eat.  I can’t say that I agreed with the list…
• Free download of Feel Good Drag by Anberlin.  Awesome song!

Tune in tomorrow for the last in the series of guest posts.

Setting Personal Goals

Today brings the third installment in my guest blog series.  Two more to go…

Be sure to check out Brian’s blog, Understanding the Poem. 

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Hi.  My name is Brian Jackson.  I am executive pastor at GracePoint Church, which is where Ronnie attends.  He asked me to write a “guest blog” for him this month.  So here goes.

Last month, the GracePoint staff team got together for our 2009 Planning Session.  We spent a lot of time looking at how we did in 2008 and we got all of our ministry goals laid out for 2009.  After we had developed all of our ministry goals, Bryson (our lead pastor) challenged us to think about another set of goals… our Personal Goals.

Bryson asked each of us to set goals in the following areas:  Spiritual, Physical, Financial and Marital.  I honestly thought (no brown-nosing) that it was a brilliant idea, because these are often the areas of our lives that we let slide.  We focus on our ministry or on our jobs or on our kids, and totally forget about our marriages, our spiritual health, our physical health and our financial health.

So we each were required to set goals in these areas by today (Oct 15).  Here are my goals: 

Spiritual – Read at least one chapter of the Bible every day.

Finances – Act our wage… live within our means.  Remove no money from savings (except tuition).

Physical – Complete a 50-mile ultra-marathon before I turn 50-years-old.  Maybe.  I’m going to see how the 26-mile marathon goes this weekend before I decide for sure. 

Marital – Weekly date night plus one small act of kindness each week.

Not only did we set goals, but we also assigned a person on staff to hold the others accountable for certain goals.  Bryson will hold everyone accountable to their spiritual goals.  Others will take care of other goals.  Like I hold the guys accountable for the physical goals.  Tricia holds the women accountable for physical health goals. 

We are even doing a visibility board in the office for our goals.  It won’t list the actual goal, but we will each have to “grade” how we are doing in the four categories.  And it will be up there for everyone to see.

I would really encourage each of you to think about your personal goals in these areas and maybe share with us here in blog land what you are going to try to accomplish .