God is the Ultimate Leader. He selects and rejects people all of the time: There were many applicants for President of the United States, but only one was chosen. There was only one Moses, one Abraham, one Esther.
It’s interesting to note that people hate that about God. We hear comments like, “If there is a God, He wouldn’t do it like that!” Or, “A loving God wouldn’t send people to hell.”
But leaders make judgment calls all of the time. Leaders lead. They do so in the limelight, receiving praise or criticism based on the perspective of each affected party.
I rejected an applicant yesterday because she did not meet the qualification requirements at www.WomenSpeakers.com. While I never find pleasure in this, I am happy to enforce our parameters.
Not surprisingly, she was hurt; and, as is often the case, hurting people respond in hurtful ways.
I realized during this process that there are leaders who read this Blog who might sometimes feel ALONE — like you are the ONLY one who receives the razor’s edge of anothers’ pain when you enforce a parameter.
In her note, she wrote…
“…there is no way that God would ever tell them to exclude qualified people… no way. It is the same thing I ran up against in the non-profit world… BUREAUCRACY….”
I disagree.
The very term “qualified” means that there are some limitations as to who will and who will not be admitted.
As an employer, I disqualify people for the smallest of reasons: An applicant may have 99% of the qualifications I require, but if they are only available on weekdays and we are hiring for a Saturday position, I must reject their application on that 1%. It is a critical qualification.
As you proceed through your life as a leader, you will have the awesome privilege of saying “yes” thousands of times, and the awesome responsibility of saying “no” just as many.
My response to this gal ended with these words, which I share with you now:
I delight in receiving direction for my life and work from God, in making judgments based on His parameters, in asking God to provide guidelines so I can know what to do, in receiving His provision by following them, in looking forward to encounters in heaven that God has prevented on earth due to time, space, location or qualification.
I rest gratefully in the security blanket of Jesus Christ. In this I experience no guilt, shame or remorse. In fact, I would have it no other way.
1 Comment
February 20, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Perhaps she was responding to the legalistic, man-made rules that God abhors?
Perhaps those who are rejected by man are also lonely in their path because they do not abide by religiosity?
Just a thought!