No offense or anything, but...

How often do we hear that phrase, immediately followed by something that could not be taken any other way? "No offense or anything, but this food sucks." "No offense or anything, but you really need a haircut." "No offense or anything, but your ministry is dragging the whole church down."

When we get started, each of us will have roles to play. Each of us will also have jobs to do. Each of us will come up short sometimes. I will drop the ball on a sermon or two, that is a fact. But we should not accept it as something that should happen often. One thing I think we really need to work at together, is the art of thinking together. Each of us will have responsibilities, but maybe someone will have some good ideas to help you with yours. And maybe you will have some good ideas for someone else.

We need to work together to ensure that we are open to constructive criticism, and also constructive at giving criticism. "Criticism" often gets a bad name. We should not shy away from helping each other to improve what we do. If there is something about my sermons that drive you crazy, or I say "um" too much or something like that, I hope we can find a way for you to tell me. Do not walk up and say "No offense or anything, but I slept all the way through that one. That was a snoozer!" I am confident we are all going to Denver because we want have an excellent community, and I think we can each help everyone else in some ways. What do you think about all this? Is there a good way to offer some help to you? How can we work together at this to help be excellent together?