What a challenge and a blessing we have been faced with as we continue to read through Leadership and Self-Deception. (work through the play list here ). Last session learned some more insights about people and objects and how we can instantly shift our miindset from one to another. We also learned that there are undesirable results when we live in a world of object.
Can you relate to the world of objects? Have you recognized when and how you may have shifted into “object-mode” lately? What was it like? Could you climb out of the box, or were you comfortable to remain in the familiar place?
Read through chapter 8 Doubt
Have you ever paused long enough to think about how it would be to work with you? Or serve with you? Not just physically, but emotionally. How people feel when you’re in the room, or they realize you’re on their team, or you are going to lead them in some activity? If we think out of the box, we can begin to realize each person with us, in what ever we do, is a person.
In this weeks chapter Tom had a break from his meeting and in his heart he knew he needed to apologize to Joyce, but before he could even do that, he got side tracked with his secretary. When we get out of the box, we recognize more people in our life.
This week have you gotten out of the box and related person-to-person with someone, consciously?
Have you caught yourself in the box? Or this week were you aware of people in your life that seemed like Tom’s wife, in-the-box?
Last week we acknowledge some scripture that illustrated some objectifying. Let’s see a couple more examples.
Bible Exposure
Genesis 29. In this chapter, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, Laban’s older daughter, instead of Rachel, whom Jacob loved and intended to marry. This deception occurs when Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage, but Laban substitutes Leah for Rachel on the wedding night.
Let’s start at verse 29:13-30
What kind of interactions we we see in this section of scripture? The relationships within people…
- Jacob towards Laban (at first)
- Laban towards Jacob (at first)
- Laban towards his children (before the wedding night)
- Jacob towards Laban’s family members
- Leah towards Jacob
- Leah towards Laban
- Rachel towards Leah
- Jacob towards Laban
- Laban towards Jacob
Just some little insight, Leah was the unwanted, unrespected one in the story. But God saw her and knew her. It was the son of Leah, named Judah, that God would build the lineage to David and ultimately, Jesus. Not the offspring of Rachel. God knows and his ways are not our ways.
In practice
This week begin by making a short list of people in your life that you tend to “box-ify”, People that you do not think of as a person, but merely an object. It can be someone at work, someone in your family, or someone at church. Just keep your eyes open and recognize the ones you objectify. Just start by putting their names (or identify them, if you don’t know their name). Just start the list…