Friday, June 12, 2009

Do You Have a Good Attitude?


Here is a quote that sounds good but I have not come to a solid decision about it yet from Maxwell's "The Winning Attitude".

"Casey Stengal, a successful manager of the Yankee's, understood the power of associations on a baseball player's attitude. Billy Martin remembers Stengal's advice to him when Martin was a rookie manager. "Casey said there would be fifteen players on the team who will run through the wall for you, five who will hate you, and five who are undecided," Martin said. Stengal added, "When you make your rooming list, always room your losers together. Never room a good guy with a loser. Those losers who stay together will blame the manager for everything, but it won't spread if you keep them isolated."

The "losers" of course are the one's who don't like the manager. This is not always accurate seeing that the "manager" can and will be in the wrong at times. It is way too easy for us in leadership to label people as losers if they are not for us. We don't have that luxury in the church to cast people off so quickly. Sometimes a good dose of humility can change a person's perception of us and sometimes there isn't a thing in the world you can do to win a person's approval.

Even though I have given the "losers" the benefit of the doubt in this post, there is something to be said of Titus 3:9-11:
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,
11 knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

Leave no reason for a person to reject you especially if he or she speaks from a bad heart or
references false claims. But if that person speaks truthfully and can and wants to help you must
listen. Here are a few points from a sermon I preached last Sunday night.

How to handle criticism:
1. Listen to constructive criticism
2. Answer misinformed criticism
3. Dismiss wrongful/false criticism from overly critical/hurting people

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