Ron Harris

Check your EGO

You have the team assembled. You have pose the question with the hope that all will share their ideas and thoughts to arrive at a strong solution. Then...the meeting falls apart. Later, as you analyze what went wrong, you realize that someone (possibly you) let ego get in the way.

That happens more times than you might suspect. Yes, even in Christian ministries and organizations. It even happens in the home with the family. How can we get a handle on the ego in order to serve the Lord faithfully and successfully?

I like Ken Blanchard’s definitions for ego that I saw in his book, Lead Like Jesus. He gives two possible definitions for ego, taking the word as an acrostic. First...

• EGO can stand for Edge God Out

That’s what happens when we look to our own wisdom and our own preferences above all others. It usually means we don’t even give weight to anyone else’s good ideas. Blanchard says it leads to three potential problems, especially in the collaboration process.

1. It fosters isolation that leads to separation.
2. It causes harmful comparisons that lead to either arrogance or anxiety.
3. It distorts the truth, making things look either more or less important than they really are.

But here’s the positive definition for ego that Blanchard offers.

• EGO can also mean Exalt God Only

When we put the Lord first and look to Him for solutions...when we pray sincerely to the ultimate problem solver...something quite different happens in our meeting and discussions.

• Humility replaces pride. Collaboration will succeed when we’re open to God providing answers and ideas from any avenue He chooses, and acknowledging our role versus His role.
• God-grounded confidence replaces fear. Collaboration will succeed when each member of the team has the courage to do what’s right in the sight of God (even if appears difficult to do), bringing honor to Him.

To bring this home, at your next meeting, why not make two sets of name tags?

One set says simply, Edge God Out.

The other ones say Exalt God Only.

Ask those in the meeting to choose which tag they want to wear...and have them put that one on. Then, each time a person looks at another person in the discussion, they are reminded of what is most important to them in the collaboration. If you do this, I would love to hear back from you to let me know what happens.

[blockquote author="Psalm 118:28" link="" target="_blank"]You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.[/blockquote]

by Ron Harris

Eight hours...what could God do through you?

We were approaching the ruins of ancient Philippi. These extensive ruins have significance on many levels, especially for Christ-followers. I began to read the account from Acts 16.

The Apostle Paul was faithful to the Macedonian call, to leave Asia and cross over to what we now call Europe. God had a purpose and a plan. The first European convert, Lydia, believed Paul’s testimony of the Good News of Christ and gave her life to the Savior.

But Paul and Silas’ bold proclamation of God’s Truth got them into trouble. They were arrested and thrown into jail...even the inner prison. Beginning in Acts 16:25, the next 10 verses give an amazing account. Let me summarize it in bullet points.

• Paul and Silas, in chains, were singing hymns and praising God.
• A massive earthquake shook the jail.
• The cell doors opened and the prisoners’ shackles came loose.
• The jailer though all had escaped, and prepared to kill himself.
• Paul stopped him, saying, “We’re all here. No need to take your life.”
• The jailer fell before Paul, crying, “What must I do to be saved?”
• The jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and washed the wounds of his new friends.
• A meal was prepared for Paul and Silas, and they ate.
• The whole household followed the jailer’s example and accepted Jesus as the Christ...and were baptized.
• Paul and Silas returned to their cells.

All this in about eight hours...maybe less. Wow.

I got to thinking.

• Is God any less powerful today?
• Does He have any less desire for eternal change in lives?
• Can He still do the dramatic...the miraculous?

What could the Lord do in your life and ministry...in mine...in eight hours?

Look at the story again. I believe the key is how Paul and Silas responded to adversity and persecution.

[blockquote author="Acts 16:24b-25 (NLT)" link="" target="_blank"]...the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.[/blockquote]

Praising God. Singing hymns. Witnessing to others of the greatness of God. Not wringing their hands, or demanding their release. Rejoicing, letting the Holy Spirit do His work.

Back to the question.

What could God do through you in eight hours...or eight days...or eight months? It might start with persecution. But it can end with miraculous victory...for God’s glory. For God’s purpose.

Are you ready to sing?

by Ron Harris

A hammer and a nail...

My pastor reminded me of an interesting reality. Maybe you can relate to it. In a recent message my pastor said,

“To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”

Have you ever heard that? Now, a hammer is a great tool. A powerful tool. A useful tool. I’ve watched master craftsmen use a hammer to build my home, everything from framing up the walls to the fine trim work that finished out the interior.

But a hammer isn’t the only tool in the toolbox. And it isn’t the right tool for everything. If you need a screw driven in, a hammer isn’t the tool to use. If wood needs sanding, or tile needs cutting, a hammer is a poor choice.

What do you do when a problem arises in your organization? Do you grab a hammer? You can’t pound every problem as if it’s a nail. It may be a person who is part of the problem. They may not need to be pounded. This person may need encouragement, better training, more appropriate work conditions. There may be many reasons that this person is a problem. Don’t be too quick to reach for a hammer.

Leadership is not pounding on someone until they get it right. Businessman and author Max Dupree describes leadership as, “...liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.”

The Apostle Peter, under the Holy Spirit’s direction, gives insight into how we deal with those God has entrusted to us in ministry and work.

[blockquote author="1 Peter 5:3 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.[/blockquote]

The next time a problem arises in your ministry or organization, don’t assume it is a nail that needs pounding. Look for the right tool, and use it wisely.

by Ron Harris

Check your Contract

I heard the frustration in his voice. Too much to do, and not enough people to do the job. It was Sunday morning…crunch time in ministry…and this media leader knew the job had to be done.

Have you experienced that kind of frustration? I certainly have. In my seven decades of life and 50 plus years of media work, the challenges of the tasks were sometimes overwhelming. I suspect you have been there, too. I’ve often had a recurring “radio” dream that the song was ending, it was time for me to read news, and I had no copy. And there were no more songs to play. Nothing but dead air...and frustration!

Now…you may think I’m going to share some nice words about how God will move the obstacles and the challenges of ministry, making your way lighter and brighter. Sorry. Not this time. I’ll just begin by sharing the words of an old Black pastor.

“Check your contract.”

God never promised a life of ease and comfort.

We sometimes equate being in the center of God’s will with a lack of problems. I remember a devotional from my friend Joni Eareckson Tada, who has spent some 50 years in a wheelchair. She reflected on the challenging time Mary and Joseph had before Jesus was born...and afterwards, too. The ridicule, the difficult trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the stable, the exile to Egypt. Great challenges. And Mary and Joseph were in the very center of God’s will.

No, ease and comfort are not the marks of being in God’s will. In fact, I know some non-believers who are financially set for life, who have a nice home, and seem to have no challenges. But they are clearly NOT in God’s will.

Yes, we can all learn to delegate, work more efficiently, plan better, and learn other skills to help us better manage our time, ourselves, and others. Yet, we will likely still have challenges and trials.

Jesus said it. “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” (John 16:33 NLT) James echoed it. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” (James 1:3 NLT)

You WILL have trials. WHEN troubles come. These verses leave no doubt. But the Apostle Paul reminds us to keep all these trials, troubles, and frustrations in perspective.

[blockquote author="2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever![/blockquote]

So, check your contract, and understand that our faithful God will be with us through any trial, and through any challenge, no matter how great or how small.

One more passage and promise to remember when going through one of these trials.

[blockquote author="Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. [/blockquote]

To put that thought in the immortal words of the 1960s hit song... “Hang on, Sloopy, hang on!”

by Ron Harris

So you failed. So what!

You failed. Or you rebelled. So…what happens now? What does God do with our failure or rebellion? You may be surprised.

The story is so familiar, even to non-Christians, that we have a tendency to skip over parts of the biblical account.

I’m talking about Jonah, his rebellion, and God’s reaction. You remember the story. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach, and he rebelled…went the other way. He boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, and God brought a violent storm.

In the story in Jonah, chapter 1, we see that the sailors were not followers of the God of Israel. The scripture says that in the midst of the storm, these weathered seamen shouted to their gods for help. In fear for their lives, they find that Jonah and his rebellion was the cause for the storm. Jonah tells them that the way to stop the storm is to throw him overboard. These sailors didn’t want to do it. And in the process of dealing with the crisis, they began to pray to Jonah’s God. And, finally, they did what Jonah asked. They tossed him into the sea.

Now, before we quickly jump to the part about the fish, take a look at what God did right here. Remember, Jonah was rebellious to God, a failure at following His will. Yet, when the seamen tossed him into the raging sea, immediately the storm stopped. Calm. Quiet. Peace.

Here’s the passage that amazes me.

[blockquote author="Jonah 1:5-16 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.[/blockquote]

Do you see that? The sailors sacrificed to the one true God, and vowed to serve Him.

Yes, the rest of the story is amazing, too. The fish. Jonah’s repentance. The revival in Nineveh. God at work. But this is what gets me. God used Jonah’s rebellion and his failure to bring a witness of the Lord’s great power to hardened sailors. And they began to follow Him.

We look at the dark side of our stumbles, our missteps, our failures and rebellion, and often miss what God may be up to. No…we shouldn’t rebel just to see what God does with it. But we need to be reminded of the greatness of God, His love and compassion for all, and His ability to use even our failures for His grand purpose.

by Ron Harris

One. Just one.

Through my 50+ years in broadcasting, that phrase has been the mantra on how we should communicate through radio. We often talk of radio being an “intimate” medium, meaning that there is a direct relationship from the on-air person to the listener. Long gone are the days when people sat around the radio as a family or as a group, though we sometimes hear of that in some remote regions of our world.

Most often, we are talking to one person...in their car, or on ear buds while jogging, working, or riding mass transit. Even though television may be watched by a group or a family, the best communication takes place when you think the person on TV is talking just to you. It is harder to get that sense of intimacy through television, and there is always that glass screen to provide separation. But in radio, the person you listen to on the air is in your head!

As a young adult, when I considered radio as a vocation, I thought of some of the top radio people I knew. There was one standout DJ (disk jockey, announcer, presenter) in our market named Ron Chapman. From my high school days (yes…a long time ago) up until about 10 years ago, this man commanded the radio market. He was the best. Why? He connected with the listeners…one to one.

When I moved into Christian radio, I began to think about Ron Chapman and his success. First, he was very, very good. He was innovative and creative. There was always a fresh idea on the air, and he was willing to take chances. It made for very good radio. But what I recognized as the real key was the relationship he had with the listeners.

Ron Chapman and I talked on a few occasions. One time I mentioned what I had learned by listening to him through the years. I told him, “You always made me feel like you knew what the street where I lived looked like.” He said, “I’ve never heard it put that way, but, yeah.” What I meant is that he seemed to know my neighborhood. He knew my world. And, I concluded, he knew me.

Ron Chapman didn’t know me. He certainly didn’t say anything personal about me on the radio. But I felt like he knew me. And, therefore, I listened to him…as did many thousands of others for decades.

I think of Jesus and the accounts of His life on earth. Yes, he spoke to the thousands on hillsides and harbors. But His most moving encounters came in one to one engagements with individuals. The Samaritan woman at the well. Peter on the seashore. The blind man Jesus healed. Encounters with individuals. Great examples for us.

Do you want to be a good communicator…in radio, television, or even public speaking? Connect with your listener. Let them know you understand their world. And they will listen to you as friend to friend. That becomes a powerful tool…for your message…and for the Gospel.

by Ron Harris

Someplace Else in Your Mind

My wife, Judy, is an excellent pianist. Along with teaching others to play, she uses her gift for the Lord, playing at our church, at our local Christian university, and for other ministry opportunities.

Recently, we were talking about something we recognize that is critical in what we both do...music and media.

Keep your focus.

Judy says she must stay “in the moment” ...not get ahead of herself in the music, or think of mistakes in the past. In the media realm, I often told our on-air radio staff that the most important moment of their air shift was the next moment.

That is good advice as we do the task God has called us to do. Stay focused.

But there is a balance.

There was a time in Jesus’ ministry when the disciples wanted Jesus to stay right where they were. To focus on that one place. Makes sense. They were seeing great success and favor. It was comfortable. But the Lord had a different idea...a different urging.

[blockquote author="Luke 4:43 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]But he [Jesus] replied, 'I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.c[/blockquote]

Today, there are other paces that need the Gospel, the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Other places that need the hope that only Christ can bring.

The Apostle Paul understood that in his life and ministry. He asked the believers in Thessalonica to pray for him and the spread of the Gospel.

[blockquote author="II Thessalonians 3:1 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]...dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.[/blockquote]

So, yes, focus on the job at hand. Stay in the moment. Don’t let past mistakes or future concerns distract you. But be open to God’s urging...His calling...to take the message of hope, found only in Jesus Christ, to the other cities also. Remember...someone brought the Gospel to you.

by Ron Harris

Are you an influencer?

At the MEDIAlliance Summit a few months ago, Dr. O. S. Hawkins talked to the global media leaders about being a VIP...a very influential person. We learned that all of us have an opportunity to influence others. But how do we do that?

John Maxwell writes in the Maxwell Leadership Bible about influence, using the life of Samuel as an example and pattern for us. It’s based on an account of Samuel’s leadership found in 1 Samuel 7:1-17. Maxwell points out three characteristics in the prophet Samuel’s life, and shows how Samuel effectively influenced people for the Lord.

Here are the traits:

1. Competence – Samuel listened for God’s voice. Of course, this he learned at a very early age as he served Eli in the temple. Because of this relationship with the Lord, he could discern the future, and wisely knew what the people should do. The people saw this and listened to the prophet.

2. Character – Unlike his predecessor Eli, Samuel exhibited great integrity and honesty in every area of his life. They considered Samuel utterly trustworthy, and knew he had the people’s interest in mind. They depended on him to intercede for them before God.

3. Connection – Samuel knew how to connect with the people. He spoke their language. He showed compassion for their situation. And he brought courage to them and told them what the Lord would have them do.

Maxwell sees this as a formula, a pattern that works today as it did those thousands of years ago.

Competence + Character + Connection = Influence

You are a leader. There are those who look to you for decisions and for direction, both professionally and personally. You have an opportunity to influence these people in the ways of the Lord, so that they might follow His will and lead lives of satisfaction and joy.

Competence. Character. Connection. God has given you all you need to be His agent...His ambassador...His influencer.

[blockquote author="Psalm 112:1, 9b NLT" link="" target="_blank"]

How joyful are those who fear the Lord

and delight in obeying his commands....

... Their good deeds will be remembered forever.

They will have influence and honor.

[/blockquote]

by Ron Harris

Questions...to ask myself!

I recently saw a list of questions that leaders should be asking themselves in order to be more effective. There were some obvious ones, like, “What do I want to accomplish today?”

But there were some others that should be among those questions we ask ourselves in the leadership role God has for us. Here is my take on a few of them:

1. What can I hand over? You can’t do everything, so you need to decide what you can pass on to someone else. That may need to be asked every day, or at least every week.

2. Are my values evident in my leadership? We want our values to mean something, both to us and to those around us. Are we passing them on in the way we lead?

3. Am I doing my best? Simple evaluation. If the answer is no, then the next questions should be, “Why not?”

4. Who succeeded today? Everyone benefits when someone on your team succeeds. That should cause us to want to celebrate the successes and praise those who hit the marks and even exceed the goals.

5. What are my sticking points? What are the things that get in my way in succeeding and in leadership?

6. How did I treat people today? Some leaders think an abrasive style of leadership is good. Your team probably doesn’t feel that way. Remember the Golden Rule.

7. Am I enjoying this? Not every day is a barrel of laughs. But there should be a sense of satisfaction in what is being accomplished. Constant frustration is not a good sign.

8. What did I do today that will matter in the future? That’s a heavy one that may require some deep thought.

To this good list, put together by Bryan Mohr of Y Scouts, I would add another one.

Did I please the Lord Jesus in all my actions, words, and thoughts?

[blockquote author="Romans 14:17-18 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.[/blockquote]

[blockquote author="Philippians 2:13 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.[/blockquote]

by Ron Harris