Walk Slowly

Last year I got some helpful feedback from a friend I trust who told me I was in too big a hurry at important times.

Now... It's no secret that I'm the embodiment of a "Purpose-Driven" pastor. I tend to study with purpose, preach with purpose, rest with purpose, and walk with purpose. I haven't ever been confused about that.

But the dark underbelly of whatever your personality is, is that people can't ever see the heart behind that personality. And we have a bad habit of assigning motives to others based on our own perceptions and biases without ever stopping to think if the stories we're telling ourselves about others are accurate.

I can't take responsibility for every false motive someone might assign to me, but I can take responsibility for making it hard for people to believe anything but the best about me.

My purpose-driven walking through the foyer on Sunday made it easy for people to think I was cocky, arrogant, or uninterested in them. Nothing could be further from the truth - I think I probably just had to go to the bathroom. But, I can do better.

I've been working hard on physically slowing myself down during the most important times. I walk slowly through the foyer on Sunday. I make it a discipline to look as many people in the eye as possible. It's really hard for me - not natural at all. But, I'm committed to doing everything in my power to make it hard for others to believe anything bad about me.

As a leader, I don't want my manner to distract from my message, because if your manner distracts from your message, guess which one people are going to believe.