Barnabas File

"Leaders, you can have control, or you can have growth, but you can’t have both.”   This statement at the 2021 Global Leadership Summit by Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of Life.Church, was my key takeaway.  If you want to be in complete control of everything, then you are limiting the possibilities for growth in your organization and in your life.   Being in control of anything or anyone is really a myth.  You guide and discipline your children, but ultimately, they go on to live their lives for themselves.  You can employ and coach people in your organization, but you can never motivate or control every action that they take.  You can create and launch an organization, but if you attempt to micromanage it, you limit its growth.   Growth comes from creating a healthy environment and then letting its components thrive.  Perhaps gardening is the best metaphor to use.  You prepare the soil, select and place the pla...

A recent news report explained that a school district in Mississippi had removed Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill a Mockingbird from a middle school reading list because the book's language "makes people uncomfortable."  I am offended by this on two levels.  First, this is one of my favorite books.  The book and film that came from it both challenged my prejudices and gave me hope for a better society.  Second, we need to read things that make us uncomfortable.  If we only read those who agree with us, we stagnate.  Listening to others’ ideas and experiences help us to grow. As my friend John Tyler posted on Facebook in response to this report: “If I followed this ‘thinking’ at home, I'd pull all my Bibles from the shelves. Most of what Jesus says, as reported on the Bible's pages, makes me uncomfortable. Learning, growing, and adopting new perspectives and behaviors can be painful experiences.  Very often, change and pain...

Memo to self at the beginning of a new year: This is going to be a good year.  You have just come through a period of both rejoicing and reflection, but it is time to move on.  If you want the new year to be good, even great, I suggest you do the following: First, take care of yourself.  This means that you are going to have to exercise, see your doctor and chiropractor on a regular basis, take your medications, get enough sleep, and eat right.  I know that doesn’t sound too exciting, but we know what happens when you don’t, right? Second, love your family and friends.  These are the people that God has placed into your life to both encourage and challenge you.  They have an investment in you and you in them.  Take it seriously and enjoy the present. Third, be intentional about personal and professional growth.  Although you may have good intentions, “sharpening the ax” does not happen without commitme...