My name is Nate, and I like country music. It feels so much better to get that out in the open. I have been fighting it for quite some time, but I live in a family that likes country music and every time we get in the car the radio is set to a country music station so I have been hearing a lot of it.  Not exactly sure how it started, but I have been relentlessly worn down to the point to where I had to give into the music.

Now please allow me to state this disclaimer: I do NOT like honky-tonk or bluegrass music.  I would rather bang my head against the corner of a brick building than listen to some honky tonk. Country music has come a long way since I was a kid, and I find myself enjoying the newer contemporary stuff.  I still prefer good ‘ole rock ‘n roll, but my musical taste has been broadened.

I actually downloaded some county songs a couple days ago.  The first one I downloaded was “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” by Toby Keith.  I am a red-blooded American and I love the patriotism that comes through this song.  While I don’t personally agree with his choice of words when he names a part of the body that we are going to put our boot, I agree with the concept 100%.  I get goose bumps every time I listen to it. Here’s the video:

The second one I downloaded was “It’s America” by Rodney Atkins.” Again, a very patriotic song.  Here’s the video for this one:

The third one I downloaded was “Cleaning This Gun” by Rodney Atkins.  It’s about a guy who is cleaning his gun while talking with his daughter’s new boyfriend to “put the fear of God” in him.  Having two teenage daughters myself, I appreciate this and plan on doing the same thing or something very similar. So boys, be warned.

That’s enough of my country music confessions for now. I feel free now that you know. I no longer have to keep the volume turned down while listening to some country or quickly switch the channel when someone comes around.

My name is Nate, and I like country music.

The other day I stopped by a large store in Ames that will remain unnamed so it doesn’t trigger any google alerts.  I talked with them and filled out the paperwork so we could hang out in front of their store and give away free sno-cones.  I’ve seen different organizations do this kind of stuff, although they are usually selling something and not giving it away.

When the store called back to get more info, they confirmed we were a church and that we were doing it for free.  When they found that out they said “You can’t do that, so the answer is NO.”

I couldn’t believe it.  Now if we were to charge money for the sno-cones, then give that money to a women’s shelter, then we would be able to do it.  But to sit out there and pass the things out for free was not going to happen.  You just can’t be nice anymore.

Yesterday I shared with you 2 principles I have learned in my life as a pastor about making decisions and doing the right thing. They were 1.) the right thing is not always the easiest thing, and 2. some people will hate you for your decision.

Today I want to share 3 more principles with you that will hopefully help you do the right thing.

3. Don’t second guess yourself. This is when you get into the arena of “what ifs?” and that is not a healthy place to live. Now if a trusted coach points out how it could have been done more effectively, don’t be to arrogant to adapt and/or regroup. But just because people whine and complain doesn’t mean your decision was wrong. Which leads to …

4. Stick with it. You may be tempted to give into the whiners, because that would be THE EASY THING TO DO (refer to #1). Again, if you’ve made your decision based on God’s vision for you then you’re OK. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:13, “…never tire of doing what is right.” If it’s right, stick with it regardless of the pain, discomfort, or temptation to give up. Then …

5. In the end, people will understand. Some of them may never tell you, but in their heart of hearts they will appreciate the fact that you did the right thing and didn’t waver from your convictions.

Moses in the Old Testament worked with the largest group of whiners in history. Moses just rescued them from bondage (through a bunch of really cool God-thing events, I might add), and they were whining from day one! But he stuck with the task God had given him, and God was able to work through it.

If you stick with your decision and people NEVER understand it is not your problem, it’s their problem. At least you did what God wanted you to do.

Now go do the right thing.

Decisions, choices, are a part of life. Someone once said that our life is a sum total of all the choices we made. Sometimes the decisions come easily to us; they are a no-brainer. Then others call for a little more thought. Some call for courage.

Those in leadership positions face decisions on a daily basis, and these decisions will affect the organization either in a positive or negative way. It can be daunting, but it is necessary. Putting off a decision is in essence a decision you are making … deciding not to decide. And I’m sure I don’t have to convince you that only leads to many fires needing to be put out later down the road!

Don’t make decisions that only serve to pacify the masses or a few people; I want to encourage you to do the right thing and make the tough call. I’m by no means perfect, but here’s what I’ve learned as a pastor;

1. The right thing is not always the easiest thing.

Everybody knows this. Dumbledore of Harry Potter fame (I’ve read all the HP books and seen all the movies) said, “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” Very true, Dumbledore! If you just make the easy choice or decisions, you are NOT leading … you are coasting. And you can only coast downhill; it requires no effort to go with the current.

Fear of the unknown or uncertainty can cause decision-paralysis. Knowing this, someone much wiser than Dumbledore said, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done.” That’s King Solomon talking in Ecclesiastes 11:4 in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Having a clear cut vision from God and understanding His mission for your life and church will help deter the decision-paralysis. So step out, step up, be a leader and realize you need to do the right thing and make the right decision. When you do, realize …

2. Some people will hate you for your decision.

You can’t make everyone happy, and you don’t want to. Look at the life of Jesus. He was always ticking people off! It’s not because He was being a jerk, but it was because He was sticking to His mission and wouldn’t let the urgent detract Him from the greater goal.

When you have God’s vision for your church as the driving force for your decision making, you will tick people off. They will call you an uncaring-selfish-empire-building-dictator and may try to make life miserable for you. If you have made your decision in line with God’s vision for you and His principles, then don’t sweat it! There’s more important things to do than worry about what people think of you.

In a previous ministry I had to make a tough call of removing someone from a leadership position and it angered a lot of people, but it was the right thing to do and the church was better for it. It wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll share three more principles that I’ve learned about doing the right thing.

I recently came across this great post about encouragement. I copied it below, or you can see it in the original form here …

Pardon me for a moment while I make a pointed observation:

I have never met an over-encouraged pastor.
It’s almost an oxymoron. Almost all are walking-wounded. Bitten by their own sheep.

It has always boggled my mind when someone who has never undertook the tremendous physical, mental & spiritual challenge of planting a church criticizes a church planter. That takes a lot of gumption, y’know?

Likewise, it has always astounded me when someone who has never pastored a church criticizes their pastor. I think Paul said something about this in 1 Timothy 1.6-7.

It would be like me trying to tell my primary physician he’s doing everything wrong while he’s trying to treat me. Ludicrous & judgmental, right?

Further, it has also always struck me as audacious when seminary students criticize pastors. This is like a first-year med student walking up to a tenured brain surgeon with years of mettle and experience and saying, “Hey Doc, I’ll take the scalpel here. I obviously have a steadier arm having been watching from the sidelines. You can scrub out.”

My point? Your pastor doesn’t need your criticisms & judgments, trust me. He needs your prayers and loud encouragements.

Allow me to go a step further with this observation: If you have a long critical email/blog post/phone call that you can’t wait to use to get your pastor’s attention, read Hebrews 13.17-18 first. And then if you’re still feeling moved to speak, watch Session 2 from Unleash (unpacks Heb 13.17 perfectly).

Bottom-line: It’s hard to create something beautiful with a sledgehammer. Criticize by creating. Trust that the true Senior Pastor (1 Peter 5) is consuming
& guiding your local pastor’s heart – the workman already approved.