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The Language of Love
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” Matthew 5:10 (NET) When we reach the pronouncement of blessing upon those who are persecuted for righteousness, we have ascended the scaffolding that upholds the fullest life of flourishing Christian discipleship. Everything we have encountered up to now has…
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The Language of Peacemaking
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9 (NET) The more I study the Beatitudes, the more I’m convinced they are not merely eight (or nine, depending on how you count) distinct Kingdom qualities that constitute human flourishing. They are interrelated and, indeed, draw on one another to form…
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The Language of Repentance
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NET) While all the beatitudes are challenging, I find this one almost impossibly hard to grasp, let alone to live out. What does it mean to be pure in heart? And how do we know when we’ve become pure in heart? I…
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The Language of Mercy
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 (NET) Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables, tells the story of Jean Valjean, a man who had labored in prison for 19 years for merely stealing bread to feed his sister’s starving children. His life in hard labor had, in turn, hardened him until…
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The Language of Right Relationship
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 (NET) I came across an interesting diagram that, I think, simply and clearly shows what leadership looks like in practice: What this illustration tells me is that leadership is much more of a relational practice than a matter of…
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The Language of Gentleness
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5 (NET) The 2023 Disney film Peter Pan & Wendy, directed by David Lowery, expands on the original story of Peter Pan by including backstories for both Peter Pan and Captain James Hook. It reveals that they were close friends as children. However, Peter…
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The Language of Discontent
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NET) If you’ve ever held a leadership position—whether in an organization, church, community, politics, or your own family—you know that leadership can be challenging. Leading is painful, and Jesus was unequivocal that kingdom leadership is cruciform: But Jesus called them and said, “You…
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The Language of Power
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” Matthew 5:3 (NET) The concept of power is often one we handle with a bit of discomfort. We have seen horrendous abuse of it in both the sacred and secular worlds. So, we think of power in its most corrupt, dehumanizing…
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The Language of Belonging
The Matrix (1999) is a science fiction film set in a future where most humans live unaware that their world is a digital simulation. The real world has collapsed, and intelligent machines now harvest human energy to sustain themselves. To keep people docile, the machines plug them into a lifelike virtual reality—the Matrix—where they go…
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The Language of Leadership
What comes to mind when you hear the word “leadership?” Power, control, authority, or command? Perhaps charisma, confidence, courage, or strength? Most often, I hear leadership defined as influence. All these words relate to what leadership is and how it is experienced in practice. However, many of these descriptors come with drawbacks. They have accumulated…
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Foggy Norms, Frayed Trust
Unclear Expectations and Norms: When professionalism is preached but never practiced or defined. Expecting “professionalism” without defining it leads to confusion and inconsistent accountability. Our final element in the Big 10 Culture Killers of Effective Leadership Teams, which I call Foggy Norms, Frayed Trust, naturally follows from The Wisdom Gap discussed in the last two…
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The Wisdom Gap Part 2: Humility
Idealism Without Wise Counsel: When vision floats free of reality and no one dares to tether it. Leading with ungrounded ideals, without the humility to seek wise counsel or remain teachable, narrows vision, stifles creativity and skills, and kills team spirit, limiting both the leadership team and the mission they hope to serve. In my…
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The Wisdom Gap
Idealism Without Wise Counsel: When vision floats free of reality and no one dares to tether it. Leading with ungrounded ideals, without the humility to seek wise counsel or remain teachable, narrows vision, stifles creativity and skills, and kills team spirit, limiting both the leadership team and the mission they hope to serve. One of…
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Feeding the Cobra
Responding Poorly to Toxic Behavior: When toxic attitudes and behaviors are rewarded and boundaries disappear. This inadvertently destroys life-giving team health through passivity, overcorrection, or disempowerment. Although often dismissed as dreamy, doe-eyed romance novels—an attitude possibly influenced by modern portrayals in movies or the Hallmark Channel—Jane Austen’s literary classics present us with disarming social commentary.…
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The Side-Door Strategy
End Runs and Undermining Authority: When decisions are made in whispers rather than in the room. Bypassing leadership structures or processes erodes trust and team alignment. I want to start by sharing a story. Stories have the power to teach us empathy and compassion, which is incredibly important if we are going to take on…
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The Compliance Cage
Unhealthy HR Practices: When the “human” in Human Resources gets lost in the paperwork. An HR function that primarily focuses on protecting the organization and adhering to policy, but lacks a people-first development approach, tends to distract managers from their goals. This unintentionally hinders the organizational mission. Human Resources is a vital part of any…
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Lone Wolves in Shared Fields
Power Without Community Accountability: When empowerment neglects the “we” behind the “me.” A healthy organizational culture balances individual empowerment with community discernment and decision-making. Like many others, I have been deeply affected by the story of Mars Hill Church as presented in the podcast series, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, hosted by Mike…
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The Stunted Mirror
Lack of Personal and Collective Growth: When leaders stop developing themselves, while others around them want to keep advancing, they set unspoken limits on the mission and breed resentment among their team members. In J. K. Rowling’s popular fictional series, Harry Potter is orphaned as a baby when the evil Lord Voldemort murders both of…
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Conflict Without a Compass
Avoidance or Mismanagement of Conflict: When tough conversations become harmful or are avoided altogether. This includes harsh confrontation, lack of explicit conflict norms, poor theology of reconciliation, and absence of due process. One of the biggest oversights among leadership teams is how to manage conflict effectively. In my personal and professional experience, conflict is often…
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Stories that Burn
Toxic Narratives and Reactive Behavior: When unexamined assumptions and reactive scripts torch relationships. Acting on harmful internal stories or assumptions that diminish others instead of seeking clarity and shared understanding. A common tactic here that is very destructive to cultures and people made in the image of God is scapegoating. One of my favorite holiday movies…
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