Checking Egos
There was a time when an instructor was teaching his students to do an operation. Someone asked him about his qualifications, and it was found out that he did not have the certification to actually do the training for what he was teaching. So that meant that he was training the people to do what they would have no certification or authority to do. Did the instructor understand the liability he was opening himself and the training center too? But the instructor thought that since he was the instructor, he would not listen to the higher authority.
There are other leaders of organizations, who have a title and some education and think that they are the all-knowing entity. They boss people around and have people slowly do more and more unethical and then illegal actions. The people listen to them because they put themselves in the posture of the ultimate authority.
That reminds me of a story that Jesus talked about going to a wedding banquet. He discussed taking the seat of lower honor because if you decide to take the seat of higher honor and someone comes that is honored more by the host, how embarrassed will you be to be moved to a seat of lower standing? It is better to take the set of lower standing and have the host elevate you in front of others, publicly showing your worth.
There are so many people who think so much of themselves and that is the only honor that they should receive.
Jesus stated that He was here to serve and not to be served. He also discussed that the person who puts himself first will be last.
It's a simple thing that we need to understand. It is called humility. We should be humble enough to know that we do not know everything. We can't know everything. We need to have the wisdom to seek advice from those who are highly trained with more experience, who are considered the experts in the field. But even when we are considered experts in the field, we still should not be full of ourselves.
Did you know that if you enter a horse paddock and you have the wrong attitude that the horses will keep you in check? They can sense what a person is like and if you come in with the wrong attitude, they will chase you out.
Are you humbling enough to know that you don't know it all? Are you strong enough to say that you are not all that? Are you a servant leader or a bully leader?
I want to mention, before we part, a deputy chief that I know. When I met him, he was a battalion chief and you could tell, just by looking at him and watching him that he was the man in charge. The men that he has served with and the men that he is responsible for hold him in high regard, and that can be that is because he holds them in high regard. I have watched him take a call from the union president and express concern about a serious condition. The chief reassured that he was looking out for the men. The deputy chief is so respected that many people want to serve with him, when they cannot respond with the apparatus. To me, it also means a lot that he has a Biblical verse on his dry erase board, that he lives by and that he picked out his badge number reflecting that verse.
Please remember to stay humble and not full of yourself. I understand that we may do some amazing things, but many times, it is just the performance of our duty.
Stay safe,
Didymus McHugh
didymus-mchugh.com
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