ARROGANCE

I got an email a couple of days ago from someone I have never met in my life who had been reading my blog. Turns out he had been able to find out a lot about me from reading a few of my entries and the most popular word in his vocabulary seems to be arrogant.

I learned years ago that it is never smart to simply brush off criticism. It's good to examine it and see if there are any grounds for the originator's complaints.

So let's start by checking out a dictionary definition of the word -

Arrogant - Exaggerating or disposed to exaggerate one's own worth or importance often by an overbearing manner.

Then, I guess I should ask whether I do in fact exaggerate my own worth or importance. Good question! Far be it for me to disagree with someone I have never even had a brief conversation with, but I humbly suggest the answer is that I am not guilty here. In fact I like to think that people who have known me for more than five minutes would agree with that assessment too.

Maybe there is a simple misunderstanding here, linked to the words overbearing manner in the dictionary definition.

I can see how someone perusing these pages might occasionally mistake my focused thinking and forthright style for something other than what it is.

I do say what I think and must confess that I did totally fail the political correctness class.

On this blog I say what I want about whatever I choose to pontificate on. What I write is one man's view of any subject under the sun. I may be right and I may not.

When it comes to issues of church planting, church growth and reaching people for Jesus, I write from the perspective of 38 years experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly in ministry and with the urgency of someone who has committed whatever years are left for me to making as much of an impact for Jesus as I can.

I know what's important to me and I know exactly where our church is focused.

My new friend may confuse that with arrogance, but I'm simply a man on a mission.