LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Our church has been doing a series the last few weeks on what one of my previous Pators called “one anothering ” Pator Aaron calls it interpersonal revolution.
As I thought about it I was reminded of the many versus about loving one another. Here is a list of 50 ” Love One Another Versus.” Just click on that link and then tell me how we are supposed to treat people including our families, those in the church but really EVERYONE including our employees or potential employees. So how does that play out in the workplace?
For one thing it says “do not judge one another.” That is a hard thing to do when you have someone who applies for a job who has been convicted of a crime. or has a pending charge. The tendency is to assume we actually know what the charge/conviction means and that they actually committed the crime they have been accused of.
My first awakening to how unfair it is to judge someone by their criminal record or how they are treated in the “system” was when the Probation and Parole Supervisor in our area said “Linda you are under the erroneous assumption that there is justice in the justice system. ” Despite the fact that we know this is true we still judge people and screen them out of the hiring process, fire them or flat out treat them poorly based on their criminal record.
How many employers these days, even Christians, would we have hired Joseph of the old testament? Or how about the prophet Jeremiah, or John the Baptist? Or Jesus’s Disciples Peter and Paul? They were all in prison for one reason or another but were they guilty of the charges?? How did God view their imprisonment? With punishment, disdain and rejection?
Or how about Jesus who didn’t even go to prison, he was accused, charged, convicted and sentenced to death without even going to prison or getting an unbiased trial. How often do we do that without even investigating everything about the person and the situation? I know it’s hard to hear and I stood in judgment as well until I started working with “ex-offenders.”
My eyes were really opened to “sex offenders” who really seen to cause great aversion and rejection because of our assumption that they are rapists and pedophiles. Many of them that I have worked with were actually happily married with children to the person they “assaulted.” How many high school seniors date sophomores? People wouldn’t think too much of a 17 year old dating a 16 year old childhood sweetheart but what if one if the one who just turned 18 and the other person was only 15 it now becomes a criminal sexual offense whether it was consentual or not.
Depending on who makes an issue of it the 18 year old will live with that offense forever. I even saw a young woman who had a 15 year old boyfriend and she is the one on the registry because her parents filed charges. I expect Joseph may have gone to prison because Mary got pregnant and she was expected to be under age. Who would have believed THAT story?
We do the same thing with people who are homeless, divorced, homosexual or have a host of other “issues” that we might not align with. We forget that we are charged with loving others, not just those that are in sinc with our way of thinking. As a matter of fact we have an even greater responsibility to show love to those who are different than we are and model to them why we believe what we do. We must live the song that we all sang in Bible camp or Sunday School “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
EXPECTATIONS
Another problem is if we hire someone we automatically have expectations of them based on what we assume they are capable of doing. First off, we may have expectations that were not clearly stated in the job description or more likely, the job description is rarely one that a person with certain gifts is able, comfortable, or passionate about doing.
For example, to ask an outgoing creative, social visionary to be highly organized is, as a general rule, an oxymoron as is asking most computer programmers to do workshops and cold calling to sell their services. This is why it is important to understand the operations of the different “gifts” we have all been given which includes our personalities, experiences, hopes and dreams. It is all part of what we were created to be and do and if we aren’t doing what WE were created to do (which means that we love getting up and going to work everyday) then we are not going to be a good fit and will probably get fired, quit or get sick. Unfortunately, sometimes we are in the job we are supposed to be in but the environment is so negative and dysfunctional that it is just miserable.
CRISES INTERVENTION
This happens when personal situations are not taken into consideration. What if someone or a family member develops an illness or has a personal crises? Do we have “rules” that force us to not help them in order to be “fair.” What is fair?? It is not fair to treat everyone the same because we are all different. Not everyone has diabetes, cancer, a mental illness, a substance abuse disorder, a sick child, a death in the family, migraines, is homeless, has been robbed, had a car accident and has not vehicle to get to work yet we set up ways to consequence them for things like needing to go to the doctor because they can only miss work so many times or else….
What did Jesus say in Matthew 25? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, help the widow, house the homeless, give water to those who thirst. Do we have employees, or anyone else we know that has these issues? What are we doing about it? What did Jesus say if we don’t do these commands?? “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
We really don’t have a choice but to look at how we are running our businesses and evaluate how we are treating our employees and potential employees based on how we are instructed to. Does that mean we hire everyone and never hold people accountable? Not at all, but we must be sure we know how to evaluate what they are capable of doing and what they are gifted to do to ensure that they are leaving the legacy they are intended to leave doing what they were created to do. After all, isn’t that what we are all supposed to do?? It is our responsibility as leaders to help everyone we encounter do the same. That will be our legacy of HOPE.
Be a Faucet of HOPE today. Pour out the “Living Water” that flows through you and offer the Help Opportunity Praise and Encouragement that we have been given by the grace of God.
IF THIS HAS STRUCK A CHORD WITH YOU, please pass it on and consider listening to my Pre-Event video series that I am offering before my online and live in Wausau, WI event on February 24th.
Here is a link to my video series including the video “The Transferable Skills of the Professional Drug Dealer” that will be available until my training on February 24th. Get all the links and details on my home page
Join in and learn how to leave a legacy of HOPE click here.