Lately, I’ve been struggling with two types of people. Somehow, these two types of people were “present” in the two or so years that I have been in Church ministry and they become more “pronounced” when I step up into Church leadership.
The first is the type who may or may not have attended meetings (sometimes without apologies) and yet, do not know or make an effort to know what had transpired at the previous meetings. They come to meetings as if it is their first time and sometimes ask about things which they were previously the body which made the decisions to the very questions they are asking. I find it hard to deal with them. Primarily because I’d expected them to have at least listened to what was being discussed and understood what was going on and not having to ask about the same thing again during the subsequent meetings.
Sometimes you just wonder whether they were paying attention during the meetings or they are just slow in understanding. Some of them come to the meeting without bothering to read the minutes of previous meetings. If they had done so, they would have realized that the previous meetings have made certain decisions and there is no need to revisit the same thing all over again. You can see how the other members in the meeting get irritable when someone tries to bring forth a point and insist it should be done their way when this issue was thoroughly discussed and decided during the previous meetings (which they may or may not have attended). It is a waste of time and we do not have the luxury of time to repeat the very same thing which was discussed at length earlier.
The second type is those who have nothing to do or clueless with what you are doing and yet, will criticize and claim that you have not taken enough steps to do what they think should be done. If it was a genuine query on what is happening, that’s fine. If it was a genuine concern with how things and going and offering a helping hand when there is a need to fulfill, that is most welcomed. However, when nothing is done to help and plenty of criticisms come their way, I get really cheesed off. There is a difference between a genuine concern and a mission of finding fault.
But really, with all these experience of having to deal with difficult people, I realize that I need an extra portion of grace from God to overlook their “faults”. I am putting inverted commas because I may not be completely right that they are fault and I am not. At the end of the day, God will take each and every one of us accountable for our own actions. The circumstances to which I am put in is definitely akin to being placed in a refiner’s fire. God is definitely dealing with my shortcomings. He knows I have a short temper and I am really being allowed to be put to test so that I can continue to fall back on Him for strength and perseverance. And to Him I shall have to continually surrender for He is in charge.
The first is the type who may or may not have attended meetings (sometimes without apologies) and yet, do not know or make an effort to know what had transpired at the previous meetings. They come to meetings as if it is their first time and sometimes ask about things which they were previously the body which made the decisions to the very questions they are asking. I find it hard to deal with them. Primarily because I’d expected them to have at least listened to what was being discussed and understood what was going on and not having to ask about the same thing again during the subsequent meetings.
Sometimes you just wonder whether they were paying attention during the meetings or they are just slow in understanding. Some of them come to the meeting without bothering to read the minutes of previous meetings. If they had done so, they would have realized that the previous meetings have made certain decisions and there is no need to revisit the same thing all over again. You can see how the other members in the meeting get irritable when someone tries to bring forth a point and insist it should be done their way when this issue was thoroughly discussed and decided during the previous meetings (which they may or may not have attended). It is a waste of time and we do not have the luxury of time to repeat the very same thing which was discussed at length earlier.
The second type is those who have nothing to do or clueless with what you are doing and yet, will criticize and claim that you have not taken enough steps to do what they think should be done. If it was a genuine query on what is happening, that’s fine. If it was a genuine concern with how things and going and offering a helping hand when there is a need to fulfill, that is most welcomed. However, when nothing is done to help and plenty of criticisms come their way, I get really cheesed off. There is a difference between a genuine concern and a mission of finding fault.
But really, with all these experience of having to deal with difficult people, I realize that I need an extra portion of grace from God to overlook their “faults”. I am putting inverted commas because I may not be completely right that they are fault and I am not. At the end of the day, God will take each and every one of us accountable for our own actions. The circumstances to which I am put in is definitely akin to being placed in a refiner’s fire. God is definitely dealing with my shortcomings. He knows I have a short temper and I am really being allowed to be put to test so that I can continue to fall back on Him for strength and perseverance. And to Him I shall have to continually surrender for He is in charge.
