A wise man one said: “there are two types of people: those who will, and those who will complain.” In any endeavour, his sentiments are true enough. There are always folks who are fully willing to participate, and those folks who will whine and kvetch, but not add anything useful to the project. It’s plan and simple human nature. You just can’t avoid people who are unhappy with everything, and you can never have enough people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get fully involved in the work.
As wise as my friend is, he did miss one other type of person. This third type of person? One willing to move the complainers towards becoming doers. Doers are busy doing. Willing to get their hands dirty, elbows greased or knees scuffed, they get the job done. Being thus fully occupied, most have little time to drag others along with them. There is, however, a subset of these folks that not only get their own hands dirty, they have the unique ability to invite, motivate, inspire and/or cajole other folks into reviewing their outlook. Thus moved, willing complainers can become simply willing and start doing things rather than just whining about the current state of affairs.
It’s an important job but also a difficult one. Folks who are willing complainers have a hard time seeing what’s really important. They can be so caught up in their own negative vision that they are blind to the goodness that might be possible. As deaf as they are blind they also have a hard time listening to any opinion other than their own. That means the willing convincer, for lack of a better title, has to be able to make themselves both heard and understood. It helps, of course, if the task to be done is interesting or supremely worthwhile, but the truly inspired motivator can make even the most boring and unappealing job at least mildly fun.
I’m a great fan of the willing convincer. There is something Christ-like in the person that can move others away from their negativity towards something positive. Jesus’ followers were not always the most helpful bunch. Some were downright hostile before he got through with them. Yet because of His love, mercy, kindness and amazing abilities, Jesus was able to turn folks from willing complainers into wonderful doers. Remember, too, that Jesus wasn’t just about motivating others; He also did what had to be done, no matter what the cost. Never mind the fact that there were some things only He could do. Jesus worked right along with others, accomplishing the most mundane tasks in addition to His most miraculous ones.
In reality, each of us is a bit of each of the folks I’ve mentioned so far. We’re all a bit willing doer, complainer and convincer. Some things we do because we have to, others we complain about, and yet other tasks are so much fun we can’t help draw others along with us. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: are we willing doers or complainers? And if we’re the former, is our doing so Christ-like that it attracts others to follow Jesus?
As wise as my friend is, he did miss one other type of person. This third type of person? One willing to move the complainers towards becoming doers. Doers are busy doing. Willing to get their hands dirty, elbows greased or knees scuffed, they get the job done. Being thus fully occupied, most have little time to drag others along with them. There is, however, a subset of these folks that not only get their own hands dirty, they have the unique ability to invite, motivate, inspire and/or cajole other folks into reviewing their outlook. Thus moved, willing complainers can become simply willing and start doing things rather than just whining about the current state of affairs.
It’s an important job but also a difficult one. Folks who are willing complainers have a hard time seeing what’s really important. They can be so caught up in their own negative vision that they are blind to the goodness that might be possible. As deaf as they are blind they also have a hard time listening to any opinion other than their own. That means the willing convincer, for lack of a better title, has to be able to make themselves both heard and understood. It helps, of course, if the task to be done is interesting or supremely worthwhile, but the truly inspired motivator can make even the most boring and unappealing job at least mildly fun.
I’m a great fan of the willing convincer. There is something Christ-like in the person that can move others away from their negativity towards something positive. Jesus’ followers were not always the most helpful bunch. Some were downright hostile before he got through with them. Yet because of His love, mercy, kindness and amazing abilities, Jesus was able to turn folks from willing complainers into wonderful doers. Remember, too, that Jesus wasn’t just about motivating others; He also did what had to be done, no matter what the cost. Never mind the fact that there were some things only He could do. Jesus worked right along with others, accomplishing the most mundane tasks in addition to His most miraculous ones.
In reality, each of us is a bit of each of the folks I’ve mentioned so far. We’re all a bit willing doer, complainer and convincer. Some things we do because we have to, others we complain about, and yet other tasks are so much fun we can’t help draw others along with us. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: are we willing doers or complainers? And if we’re the former, is our doing so Christ-like that it attracts others to follow Jesus?
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