I made a friendship covenant with four people... people who see me from a variety of angles and different personalities.Specifically, I handed each a slip of paper that reads as follows:
Our friendship is important to me, as are your insights into my life to help me become more like Jesus. I’m asking you to over the next week to speak 100% truth into me, be it encouragement I can handle in the right way or discouragement from things I’m doing the wrong way. I commit to be a good listener.... please be a gentle yet honest speaker.
There's also a spot for my signature, and I signed it to indicate my intent to be open. That in itself is a challenge for any of us, including me. Because the moment someone starts to tell you something that you haven't dealt with it's easy to get defensive.
And yet I am committed to any growing pains, which means that for the next week or so I will be extra aware of some of the blind spots in my life.
Tonight I'm also taking part in a "360 Degree Review" with the lead team I serve in our church. This is another opportunity for us to help one another better figure out what we should continue to do, where small adjustments should be made, and what kind of major course corrections are needed. This is truly a big deal, for the health of a church fulfilling its God-given vision begins within the spiritual and relational DNA of its leadership.
Needless to say, in all of this I will have to remain open to new ideas and filter those through my sense of how God is leading my life. I'm looking forward to who I may become on the other end of it all. Thanks for your prayers in this process, because I want to grab what matters and cast aside what doesn't.
