Things I Will Not Mention... (in an E-mail)

This morning I was reading in the Book of 3 John. When was the last time you read this 343 word book of the Bible? As a church leader you should! There was a lot I wanted to share but this last part was a huge reminder to me so maybe you need it like I did.

John says this to one of the leaders in the early church he writes to:

"I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face."

Here is how I read that:

"I have a lot of stuff I want to tell you but there are some things I will not mention in an e-mail. We need to talk face-to-face."

How many times have we done the exact opposite of that and it has turned around and bit us in the butt! We get all worked up and from behind our keyboard we get all kinds of courage that we don't have in real life and we just lay it all out there in an e-mail, a written copy that we can't take back. DUMB!

E-mail is a great tool. The best way to get a hold of me and get my attention is in an e-mail. I love e-mail. BUT, e-mail is NEVER something we should use when it comes to something we should be doing face-to-face! Man up! - I am telling myself that... MAN UP!

Have the guts and the conviction to talk face-to-face. - Again talking to myself here. No one likes having tough conversations, but just because we don't like it and it makes us nervous and want to throw up it is never a reason not to do the right thing. As a leader you don't want a written copy just floating out there. There are some things that can't be conveyed in text and when other people see our words they can be taken and used against us in ways we had never intended.

My challenge to every pastor and church leader is to do what John did even in his old age... say it face-to-face. If you can't say it face-to-face then it is not worth saying at all!!!