Give credit to the messenger, not the message

A very long time ago a wise elder instructed a young leader in this way, "The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear." Sound familiar? I surprise myself sometimes thinking this is a sign of our culture, but nope, its been around 2000 years. What is this wise counsel really saying?

It is in the nature of people to seek out leaders (teachers) whose message fits their own idea of how things should be. Thus, instead of people seeking out those teachers who are most likely to give them truth, they are attracted to messengers that say things that scratch the itches of their soul. The counsel was to hold to what is true, even against the pressures of human nature.

Unfortunately, unless someone is yearning to know truth, your voice will be rejected or not noticed if you yearn to be a truth sayers.

Interesting that one key current leadership theory is that a person becomes a leader because the followers want him/her to lead them. So its nothing new that those who advance to leadership positions and are celebrated as "the one" are often those who say what the followers want to hear, not the ones who speak truth and provide a more "true north" vision. Maybe this is why we have so little transformation?

BTW, many will not like this blog because it doesn't say what their ears are itching to hear.

something to ponder .......