4) Have you considered bringing in another person's perspective to your business? Maybe there's a question you haven't thought of? You know who this happened to? Campbell's Soup. Campbell's Soups profits declined eight straight years, and they couldn't figure it out. They kept making the soup better. Finally they brought in an outsider, who wasn't intimately connected to Campbell's Soup, and they simply asked the question: why are you packaging it in a can? This generation uses microwaves, and cans don't go in microwaves. What if you packaged it in microwaveable-safe bowls, what would happen then? Good question!
5) Do you have a gossip problem? Do you tend to spread darkness, with no commitment to fix it? Listen, if you're not committed to fix the problem, then close your mouth. Do not make it worse. If you're not going to make it better, whatever you do, don't make it worse. Shut up! Can I get an amen? Flippin' heck. Hush your pie hole. Shut your cake hole; and either engage the problem with full commitment to bring light to it - or don't speak. You're making it worse, not better.
6) When is the last time you said something about someone else, without talking to them first? This is what Jesus is talking about - when you enter into behaviour like that, you're killing an environment that's necessary to make everybody their best. Jesus is assuming a much better place.
7) How did it work, when you did that? What were you trying to accomplish? Here, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, you had a reason I'm sure, for talking evilly about someone else, without speaking to them first. I'm sure you had good motives - what were you trying to accomplish? Did it work? If you're speaking with no motive - what is that? That's witchcraft.
8) Can you ask God for the guts to go talk to them - to speak the truth to the only person who can fix it? Are you willing to at least God for the guts to act this way? I know this is a broad road and a narrow way thing. I know most people can't. Are you willing to ask God to, by faith, give you the strength to do this?
9) Can you give them the benefit of the doubt? Can you do that?
10) are you willing to become brave enough to become this kind of person? Are you willing to be brave enough to become this kind of person?
Let me tell you something, I'm going to be open and honest with you. I'm going to share one of my darknesses. I'll model this a little bit. I have a very high IQ, and an almost-photographic memory. I'm horrible with names, but if you have a name-tag, I can take a photo in my brain of your face with your name tag - and then never forget your name. In some sense it's a gift from God, and in another sense it's a curse, because some things you want to forget, like seeing your granny naked. I can't get it out - see it's there right now - I saw it! I just - unbelievable, there she is. I graduated summa cum laude from university, and here was a problem I had: I thought I was smart, and I equated brains with wisdom. I had on three different occasions that come right to the forefront of my brain, on three different occasions, I stand before you today and I confess to you, that I was someone who despised discipline - and therefore hated myself.
On three different occasions, men in my life who were men of God, full of wisdom, who were all old enough to be my dad; on three different occasions they told me: Shane, we don't feel right about the path you're taking here. On all three occasions, because they couldn't explain to me why, I ignored their advice. I said: why do you feel this way? We can't tell you, it's just inside - we just know; and all of them were telling me the same thing, but because all of them couldn't tell me why, I stood back and said: well you guys don't know what's best for me - and I despised their correction, therefore I despised myself. I can tell you that in all three instances, in all three instances - it nearly destroyed me. It nearly destroyed me!
Look at my head! I was asked out a few months ago by a 58 year old woman. I'm 37! Just to be clear, my mother's 59! And to make this clearer, she was - to be fair to her - she was a good looking 58 year old woman, and she wasn't weird. She wasn't one of these people who "God told" was going to marry me or something. She actually thought I was in her age bracket; which led me to all kinds of questions like: how old do I look? Look at my hair! You know what this is from? Despising correction! Three different times - was I a bad person? No. Did I enter into some horrible sin? No. I just made bad decisions that almost destroyed my life. Why? Because I despised correction.