Balancing Our Emphasis Between Task and Relationship Orientation
1 John 4:20-4:21 - If anyone says I love God but hates his brother. He is a liar and the truth is not in him. For how can you say you love God whom you do not see when you do not love your brother whom you see?
1. The Holy Spirit knows how to analyze everyone’s strengths and weaknesses in order to help each one find the best balanced between task and relationship oreintation. David wrote, "Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psa. 139:23,24) Ask the Lord to help you rectify any over emphasis that you are giving to either your tasks or your relationships.
2. The Holy Spirit teaches some lion like personalities how to avoid being so concerned about programs, activities and accomplishments that they use people like machines. The Spirit of God is able to give greater compassion to some task oriented leaders by showing them the importance of love. The Holy Spirit is able to lead task oriented leaders to passages of scripture that emphasize becoming and knowing Godliness instead of merely DOING God’s will. John wrote, "If anyone says he loves God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he nas not seen." (I John 4:20,21) Ask the Lord to help you remember that love is the greatest gift of all.
3. The Holy Spirit instructs some teddy bear like personalities how to avoid being so concerned about people liking them, that they seldom get their tasks accomplished. Some preachers are so afraid of offending any in their congregation that they are willing to avoid preaching the whole counsel of God in order to maintain peace at any price. Being afraid of conflict with people in your organization usually means that the leader is more afraid of people than the Lord. Paul wrote, "We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts." (I Thes. 2:4) Ask the Lord to help you remember to please God before trying to please the people around you.
4. The Holy Spirit enables some turtle like personalities how to come out of their shell and stop being so isolated, reclusive or alienated from their congregations. Some shy leaders prefer to hide whenever there is a conflict. They are especially apt to retreat from the most controversial issues, people or problems in the church. The Holy Spirit is able to infuse these timid leaders with His supernatural boldness, power and confidence. Paul wrote, "God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but of power, love and discipline." (2 Tim. 1:7) Ask the Lord to help you come out of your shell & being to stick your neck out for His purposes.
5. The Holy Spirit knows how to help some chameleon like leaders to adapt without compromising on essentials. Some leaders seek to compromise with any person who is pressuring them in order to appease them at the time of their interaction. However, this politically oriented leader depends too much on the opinions of the majority to determine which direction he will lead the church. His preaching is usually characterized by a situational ethics based theology. Being so concerned about balancing tasks and relationships in his organization he forgets that His goal is to complete God’s will for his life and ministry. Paul wrote, "And this I pray that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you can walk in a way that pleases the Lord in all respects and bears fruit in every good work." (Col. 1:9,10) Ask the Lord to help you avoid any tendencies to be so politically oriented that you forget to trust the Lord to help you keep His priorities, responsibilities and perspectives.
6. The Holy Spirit knows how to help us demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit in our tasks and relationships with the best balanced approach. Isaiah wrote, "If you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a Voice behind you say, ‘No, this is the way; walk here." (Isaiah 30:21 Living Bible) Ask the Lord to help you maximize both your relationships and tasks according to the whole truth of God. Trust the Lord to help you seek to integrate healthy relationships with productive activities that seek first His kingdom and righteousness. Look to the Lord’s leading in balancing the way you invest your time between relating to people and accomplishing all of your ministry tasks.
Follow the pattern of Jesus Christ as one who was able to meet the essential needs of people without sacrificing His responsibilities to see that He went all the way to Calvary. Believe that the Spirit of God is able to help you harmonize mercy with justice; love with truth; grace with Biblical commands; peace with progress; gentleness with faithfulness, cooperation with commitment; friendliness with holiness; being with doing; kindness with God’s power; family life with church activities and all of your relationships with your God given duties.
Allowing Holistic Christlike Character Qualities to Flow Through You
1. Be Accountable without getting hung up on doing things right and forgetting to do right things
2. Be Alert, but do not be quick to criticize, doubt or presume something missing without first looking for the silver cloud behind every dark cloud in situations and people.
3. Be All Things to All Men to win some without being insecure about your own identity, personality, outlook, convictions, experiences, callings, culture, genetics, ideas or background.
4. Be Amiable, but do not be so socially concerned that you become a man pleaser willing to do whatever it takes for people to like you.
5. Be Analytical with becoming too wrapped up in details and problems in situations or people.
6 Aspire to Greatness, but do not pursue only selfish ambitions that involve dirty politicizing.
7. Be Balanced without lacking hard convictions to do what is right even when it is unpopular.
8. Be Bold without being over-bearing, pushy or insisting on your own way.
9. Be Compassionate, but do not be overly sympathetic, empathetic, or gullible.
10. Be Confident, but do not become arrogant, high minded, and conceited.
11. Be Contextual without being inappropriate, compromising or lacking in relevance to reality.
12. Be Cooperative, but do not resort to conniving, intrigue, or under-handed tactics.
13. Be Courageous, but do not become a loose canon that shouts ones mouth off whenever you become irritated. Do not let subjective moods cloud your sense of objective purposes and processes
14. Be Courteous, but do not merely resort to superficial flattery to impress people.
15. Be Creative, but do not let your dreams dictate how you live your life. Do not let speculations, imaginations, or visions of greatness determine your sense of well being.
16. Be Decisive, but do not become so stuck in your ways that you lose flexibility.
17. Be Diligent, but do not get into one-track thinking. Do not become selfishly industrious.
18. Be Directed by the scriptures without being a legalist, a hair-splitter, dogmatic or one who fails
to realize that all truth is God’s truth.
19. Be Discerning, but do not become judgmental, overly critical, or proud of your analysis.
20. Be Disciplined, but do not become rigid, harsh, overbearing, or dictatorial.
21. Be Discrete, but do not be so over-cautious that you are afraid to act on truth. Do not become so timid and afraid that you simply do not want to make any mistakes or hurt others’ feelings.
22. Be Earnest, but do not become nervously meticulous, over conscientious, or over serious.
23. Be Efficient, but do not become enslaved by perfectionism, fussiness, or impatience.
24. Be Empowered by God without being too authoritative, dictatorial, or overbearing.
25. Be Enthusiastic, but not fanatical or over wrought hl your approach to solving problems.
26. Be Evangelistic without being so one tracked that you cannot talk about a person’s felt needs.
27. Be Expressive without being wordy, glib, vociferous or melodramatic.
28. Be Fair-minded without being indecisive or allowing fairness issues to halt your progress.
29. Be Flexible without being wishy-washy, spineless, or a doormat for others’ purposes.
30. Be Forgiving without being irresponsible in your leniency, permissiveness, or weakness.
31. Be Frank without being tactless, insensitive, undiplomatic or disrespectful.
32. Be Friendly without being nepotistic, cliquish, or tribalistic.
33. Be Frugal without being cheap, stingy, or penny wise and pound-foolish.
34. Be Generous without being extravagant, wasteful or squandering away God’s resources.
35. Be Gracious without being a push over.
36. Be Grateful without being too flattering, gushy, or over generous in giving compliments.
37. Be Hateful of what is evil without becoming obnoxious or self-righteous.
38. Be Holistic without being eclectic, synergistic, or lacking focus.
39. Be Holy without being pious, Pharisaical, or self-righteous.
All you may need He will provide
