EAT FISH, SPIT BONES
Are you a seafood lover? Sorry, that sounds a little too much like a Red Lobster commercial (which, I'm not sure qualifies as seafood...no offense). If you eat fish, which, by the way, is my favorite thing to do...eating wise, that is, then you're always going to come up with a bone every now and then. So, what do you do when that happens? Do you just swallow the bones? Do you give up on eating seafood? Hopefully, you take things in stride and simply spit out the bones and eat the fish.
This is not just a principle for eating fish. It is also a principle for life. I'm headed to a conference today, hoping to learn something that will equip me to be a better pastor. Some people, go to conferences or listen to pastors or read a book and think they just have to swallow everything hook, line and sinker. (pardon the obvious fishing reference) They feel compelled to believe everything they hear. They just swallow everything.
Others, the first time they hear something they disagree with, shut down completely. If I don't agree with you on this point, then I can't agree with you on anything else. We're done. I'm shutting down. You can keep talking, but I'm not listening. I get a lot of that from some of you. You come to Crosspoint for 5 years and the first time I say anything you don't agree with, my email inbox goes on overload. It can be big or, as usual, small. It doesn't matter. We have to agree on everything or we can't agree on anything. And if we can't agree on everything (in other words, if I can't come around to embrace your point of view), then you're outa here.
Then, there's the third viewpoint. I just call it the "eat the fish and spit out the bones" method. Wherever I go, whatever I read, whoever I listen to, I try to learn something. That's the fish. I eat that. Sometimes I find myself saying, "I'm not sure I buy that". Those are the bones. Rather than shutting down, I simply spit them out. Otherwise, I'll miss all the fish.
Try that principle. Even the boniest people happen on to a little meat every now and then. Don't be so preoccupied with a few bones that you miss it!
This is not just a principle for eating fish. It is also a principle for life. I'm headed to a conference today, hoping to learn something that will equip me to be a better pastor. Some people, go to conferences or listen to pastors or read a book and think they just have to swallow everything hook, line and sinker. (pardon the obvious fishing reference) They feel compelled to believe everything they hear. They just swallow everything.
Others, the first time they hear something they disagree with, shut down completely. If I don't agree with you on this point, then I can't agree with you on anything else. We're done. I'm shutting down. You can keep talking, but I'm not listening. I get a lot of that from some of you. You come to Crosspoint for 5 years and the first time I say anything you don't agree with, my email inbox goes on overload. It can be big or, as usual, small. It doesn't matter. We have to agree on everything or we can't agree on anything. And if we can't agree on everything (in other words, if I can't come around to embrace your point of view), then you're outa here.
Then, there's the third viewpoint. I just call it the "eat the fish and spit out the bones" method. Wherever I go, whatever I read, whoever I listen to, I try to learn something. That's the fish. I eat that. Sometimes I find myself saying, "I'm not sure I buy that". Those are the bones. Rather than shutting down, I simply spit them out. Otherwise, I'll miss all the fish.
Try that principle. Even the boniest people happen on to a little meat every now and then. Don't be so preoccupied with a few bones that you miss it!
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