Riding a Dead Horse?

I ran across this article within a book called Toy Box Leadership: Lessons from the Toys you Loved as a Child, written by Michael Waddell.

“The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in modern times, because of an unwillingness to let things go, we often try other strategies, including the following:

·         Buying a stronger whip.

·         Changing riders.

·         Threatening the horse with termination.

·         Appointing a committee to study the horse.

·         Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

·         Lowering the standard so that dead horses can be included.

·         Appointing an intervention team to reanimate the dead horse.

·         Creating a training session to increase the rider’s load share.

·         Reclassifying the dead horse as living impaired.

·         Changing the form so that it reads, “This horse is not dead.”

·         Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

·         Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.

·         Donating the dead horse to a recognized charity, thereby deducting its full original cost.

·         Providing additional funding to increase the horse’s performance.

·         Conducting a time management study to see if the lighter rides would improve productivity.

·         Purchasing an after-market product to make dead horses run faster.

·         Declaring that a dead horse has lower overhead and therefore performs better.

·         Forming a quality focus group to find profitable uses for dead horses.

·         Rewriting the expected performance requirements for horses.

·         Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Okay, I laughed so hard while typing this, tears were clouding my vision. But within humor there is often a grain of truth.  Did any of these answers sound vaguely familiar? Could there be a few dead horses in your life? Your family? Your church? Our district?

Oops! Now we’ve gone from preaching meddling.

Challenge: Are we willing to name our dead horses and look for real solutions to our problems?

Paul writes in Romans: “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13)

This is what stands out to me in this passage:

·         Don’t pretend – really love others.

·         Hate what is wrong – love what is good.

·         Love each other with genuine affection.

·         Take delight in honoring each other.

·         Avoid laziness by working hard and serving enthusiastically.

·         Rejoice in confident hope.

·         Be patient in trouble and keep praying.

·         When people are in need, be ready to help.

·         Be eager to practice hospitality.

Do we have the courage to dismount from our dead horses and concentrate on the real challenges that face us? It’s not easy but serving God was never meant to be easy. God never said, “Get up on that dead horse and ride.” Jesus said: “Take up your cross and follow me.”