The Big Diehl

I hate long blogs, but this is long for a reason. If you’re interested in volunteerism, church ministry, or worship programs (OR IF YOU’RE ON A WORSHIP TEAM) - you ought to read the whole thing. It’s long on purpose.

I found one church’s Music Ministry “Code of Honor Pledge.” Anyone who is involved in the music ministry must sign the pledge and be willing to be held accountable to it. I thought this was interesting and wanted to share it here.

I pledge to keep the commandment Jesus said was the first and greatest — to love the Lord my God with all my heart (being submitted to His Lordship) and with all my soul (my will, emotions, thoughts, affections, and desires) and with all my strength (physical expression of my worship) and to love my neighbor as myself.

I pledge to walk in integrity and in love. I will not lie; I will not steal; I will not curse; I will not be a talebearer or participate in gossip. I will walk in integrity with my financial commitments.

I pledge at all times to place moral and ethical restraints on my life. This would include keeping myself from all immoral and illegal acts and communications. I will not engage in or attempt to engage in any illicit, unscriptural sexual acts, which shall include sexual intercourse with one who is not my spouse through ceremonial marriage and any homosexual activity. I will not live with a person of the opposite sex who is not my spouse whether sexually involved with that person or not. I will not participate in or view pornographic materials.

I pledge that I will not engage in other behavior that is contrary to Biblical standards of Christian living not listed above. I will not participate in any form of gambling either for money or not for money. I will not take any illegal drugs or misuse any drugs. I will not drink alcoholic beverages of any kind; I will not use tobacco.

I pledge to maintain an integrity of “openness” to God’s claims on my life, to do my utmost to know and follow His will for my life, to grow in my spirit in developing my own relationship with God, and to maintain relationships of accountability.

I pledge to attend rehearsals and services as required of me and to willingly submit to the leadership and follow all requirements with a good attitude. I recognize that among other things, the following are required of me: to turn in a volunteer application and await approval of my application before beginning to participate in services and outreaches; to be at rehearsal each week if I plan to sing or play my instruments in services that week; to stay for the remainder of service after praise and worship; to follow the dress code given to me for services; to be faithfully involved in a music cell group; to arrive at the times appointed before services to participate in prayer and sound checks; etc. I will commit to being flexible and maintain an attitude of humility and willingness to serve to the best of my ability wherever I am needed within the Music Ministry.

Is this overkill? Are they being too specific? The answer to those questions aside — I think the more important question is “Why are they being so specific?”

People from Peace Country love cooperation and harmony. Their vehicle is a gondola, and they want to drift along. These people want respect for who they are.

These people find the easiest, stress-free way to do work while still accomplish something. They are peacemakers.

If you want to discourage these people - criticize them for seeming lazy or complacent (they probably aren’t - they’re just perceived that way). Say things like, “Why don’t you get some guts and –” “What’s wrong with you? Take some action!” If you want to discourage them — don’t encourage what they love!

People from Perfect Country love to have things right. They are perfectionists, and they love it! Their vehicle is a train on a train track, and they want to stay according to the plan! These people want respect for their feelings.

These people are crazy for systems, strategies, and plans. They are the people that actually read the directions — every time. Plans and stable structure are at the core of who they are — and when plans get changed, they often become depressed because their wonderful plans were messed up; their “core” was unstable. These people are extremely particuluar and they want things done correctly — but they don’t want to control. Unlike the Control Country person, they would get offended if they are accused of being a control freak. They don’t want to control, they just want things to be right!

If you want to discourage these people - don’t let them manage details. Say things critically like, “It doesn’t have to be perfect!” and “Those details don’t matter to anyone. When you do this, you’re criticizing their deepest passions! If you want to discourage them — don’t encourage what they love!

People from Fun Country love to have fun. They are amiable, and they love it! Their vehicle is an airplane, able to go in any direction. These people want approval for what they do.

The name “fun country” implies laziness, but they’re not lazy. They look for the fun in everything they do. Fun Country people love to be around people and they get “charged” while in the presence of other people. They would rather shovel manure with other people than sit behind a desk all day. These people want approval for what they do. This is different from Control Country - who wants appreciation for their accomplishments. Often a Fun Country person will be do things in order to make people like them — or worse — to keep people from disliking them.

If you want to discourage these people - don’t let them ever be a ham. Criticize them with the things they love — “Why do you talk to so many people?” “Can’t you be calmer when you’re on a stage?” Never encourage their open personality and tell them they need to be more reserved. If you want to discourage them — don’t encourage what they love!

People from Control Country love to be in control. They are control freaks, and they love it! Their vehicle is a bulldozer, and they want to get the job done! These people want appreciation for what they do.

These people want to accomplish something, they strive on finishing assignments and working “up a ladder.” They want to achieve and succeed. They won’t get offended if you tell them they are controlling a lot — they love being control freaks! Their attitude is “get ‘er done.” People from Control Country want to achieve so much that they will press forward and if their pressing causes problems — they’ll just clean it up later. These people get it done!

If you want to discourage these people - don’t let them ever take a “front seat” of leadership. Never give them the remote control, never let them choose which restaurant to go to, never allow them to lead you or a group. Afterall, that would be encouraging their control-ness. If you want to discourage them — don’t encourage what they love!

God wires us differently — that’s why such a thing as “personality conflicts” exist. You might have taken a personality test before — but I’d encourage you to complete a FlagPage. The FlagPage Test is not a personality test, but rather its a test that measures what you love! At the most basic level, the FlagPage shows four basic groups.

Hippocrates saw that there are generally four types of personalities (or combinations of them). This week I’m going to talk about each of these personalities with the terminology used in The FlagPage Test, and in relation to what people love. I will be describing these personalities and loves with the “Country” analogy — everyone’s personality is a country. Everyone has a homeland country, and most people also have an “adopted” country as well, which means they have some characteristics of that secondary personality.  This is a great analogy because Americans cannot understand everything about the South African, Australian, or Jamaican culture (although they all speak English) — and we will have a difficult time understanding someone with a different personality.

This difference in “Nationality” in our personalities is why I want to help explain them. If you understand the four countries, you will do better at understanding other people.

Do you ever have days where you just want to drag Bill Gates down a dirt road?

My brother and I taught a workshop at the 2007 CMI National Convention on how various types of media can help grow a church. Following the snow theme of the conference, our workshop had the catchy title, “Cool Runnings.” We printed up the outlines in the business center at the hotel (thank God for Google docs!). We had put together a neat chart that could help churches take areas of their media to the next level (it’s certainly not prescriptive but it is great general help for many). This chart is for legal sized paper — which the hotel didn’t have in the business center. Rather than paying out the wazoo at Kinko’s to get this chart printed for our workshop, we decided to post it on my website and tell people in the workshop that they could get it at this website.

HERE IS THAT CHART.

For the past several weeks I have had an organic stench coming from my kitchen cabinet. At first I thought I just needed to let the cabinet “air out” so I left the cabinet doors open overnight - but it was still there. I found an open bag of shelled peanuts so I rolled up the bag thinking it might solve the problem. It was still there.

As the days went on the smell got worse and worse, and I couldn’t figure it out. Every time I opened my cabinet I was overcome with this wretched stench. Seriously, it smelled really bad.

Finally I decided to figure it out once and for all — so I started examining everything in my cabinet.
Cans of soup and vegtables? - no.
Crackers? - no.
Peanut Butter?, Rice Cakes?, Ramen Noodles? - no, no, no.
The sack of potatoes way up on the top shelf?

Bingo.

Disgusting does not even begin to describe this sack of rotting potatoes. Slime had been spread through the entire sack — not just any slime. This slime resembled snot - like the kind that explodes from your nose if you have a bad cold and sneeze. As I picked up the sack from the shelf, I heard the slime-snot squishing around in the bag. I nearly threw up right then and there. I put the potatoes in my kitchen garbage… then I emptied that bag into ANOTHER bag and tied it off really good and stuck it in my trash barrel, never to see it again.

That bag of potatoes is how God sees our sin. Repulsive.

It’s important to have a good one — but you can not please everyone. You should aim to please God.

It takes years to establish, but it can be ruined in seconds.

If you spend years to develop a good reputation, your reputation will work for you.