Breaking the Silence with Bland Code

I haven't blogged yet in the month of October, which is the longest period of silence I've had since I started my blog over three years ago.

It's not because I don't have a lot to say. It's because I don't know how to say it.

One of my goals when I became pastor was to be transparent, to let people inside my world, to communicate . . . to be honest, open, and real.

It's a worthwhile goal, but it's also a goal that sometimes gets in the way of every known leadership principle.

See, one of the primary principles of good leadership is that you can't let them see you sweat. That you have to always be positive. That you minimize the challenges and you emphasize the good things . . . which inspires people to do more and be better.

That's great stuff, if you're John Maxwell, but it sure does leave you feeling a bit lonely.

I've been on the job now for over four months, and God has done some amazing things. Every numerical standard by which "experts" judge churches has shown the last few months to be phenomenal months of spiritual fruit and progress . . . and yet, to be perfectly honest, the obstacles rise with every step forward.

So what does a "glass half-empty" kind of leader share when things are going great and painful at the same time? Do I candy-coat it? Do I only accentuate the positives? Do I just become a smiling chatty-Kathy and act as if there aren't any challenges or dark moments?

I'm still trying to work it out, but this blog is an effort to wrestle with the challenge. Unfortunately, I still don't have an answer to my dilemma . . . but at least you now know there is one.