Posted on by Adam

Position vs. Disposition

A lot of relational and offenses arise because people forget the difference between position and disposition.

“Position” = Your stance on a certain issue.
“Disposition” = The way you communicate yourself.

Okay so in case you’re not following me yet, here’s an example. Imagine that I’m your boss, and I need to make a change in your performance.

Scenario A: “Hey I love the quality of your widgets, but I really need you to step it up a notch in this area. Keep up the good quality!”

Scenario B: “What is your problem, Nerd?! You’re slowing down the whole line because you’re such an idiot. Hurry up and focus more – this part needs to be better!!” (Accompanied by negative nonverbal communication as well).

In both scenarios, the position was the same; you needed to perform better in a particular area. But the dispositions were drastically different.

Now here’s the catch – nobody ever sees past our dispositions. That’s so important that I’ll say it again: NOBODY EVER SEES PAST OUR DISPOSITION.

I wager to say that most misunderstandings are (for lack of a better word) *misunderstood*, and are actually a result of a bad disposition. This is a major portion of interpersonal conflicts, guys. This is actually kind of a big deal, at least as big of a deal as interpersonal communication is.

Your disposition needs to remain a positive one as much as possible, but its essential that it remains positive if you ever need to confront another on a sinful issue or concern. Christian screw this up all the time. Bad disposition is what turns a Christ following disciple into a bigot.

Bigots would say:
“Oh my gosh you did what?! You do know what you did was wrong, right? You’re such a sinner. I can’t believe I’m even talking to you. You ought to repent and READ YOUR BIBLE right now. Maybe you’ll stand a chance to not wind up in hell!”

Such a bad disposition! Nobody ever sees past that! Because of so many confrontations like that, it has caused the spirituality of so many Christians to dry up. We fear confessing our sins to one another because of it. Perhaps worse, we fear confronting another person on their sin because we fear sounding like it.

But we need to remember its not our position that’s the problem, its our disposition.

With a good disposition, we can lovingly and caringly challenge another Christian to live holy: “Hey, recently I seem to have noticed a lot of bitterness in you. You doing okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Christianity aside, far too many leaders in the workforce don’t ever make adjustments to their staff because they’re scared of being the meanie. I think this is a major reason leadership suffers so much in our nation – nobody wants to be the mean guy; everyone is scared of their disposition. But folks, its not the position (good employees WANT feedback), its the DISposition.

Wouldn’t our relationships be so much better if everyone read this blog?

Let’s get real, though – they won’t.

But you did.

Remember how I said that “NOBODY SEES PAST YOUR DISPOSITION”? Well, that’s not entirely true. You can. If you think about it. Sometimes people can be 100% wrong in their disposition but can be 100% right in their position. That position is what we need to listen for. It’s hard sometimes, but we need to get past HOW someone says something and actually hear what they’re saying. When they say something about you, it can be incredibly hurtful. When “corrections” are thrown at you in an insulting way, they may actually be only 1% right and 99% wrong in their position.

But that 1% of truth may make 100% of the difference in your life, if you’re smart enough to listen for it.

3,804 Replies to “Position vs. Disposition”

  1. Iím impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog thatís both educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy that I came across this in my hunt for something relating to this.

  2. Hello there! I could have sworn Iíve been to your blog before but after browsing through many of the articles I realized itís new to me. Regardless, Iím certainly delighted I came across it and Iíll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!

  5. When I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!

  6. Iím amazed, I must say. Seldom do I encounter a blog thatís equally educative and entertaining, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something too few people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.

  7. That is a really good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise informationÖ Thank you for sharing this one. A must read article!

  9. You’re so interesting! I don’t suppose I’ve read something like that before. So good to discover somebody with some genuine thoughts on this subject. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This site is something that’s needed on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!

  10. I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I’m hoping to see the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now 😉

  14. Hello there, I believe your website might be having browser compatibility problems. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine however, if opening in IE, it’s got some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other than that, fantastic site!

  15. After looking at a handful of the blog articles on your site, I seriously appreciate your way of writing a blog. I bookmarked it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future. Please visit my web site as well and tell me what you think.

  18. An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!

  19. Hi, I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will revisit yet again since I book-marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide other people.

  22. Hi there, I do believe your website may be having browser compatibility problems. When I take a look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in Internet Explorer, it’s got some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to give you a quick heads up! Besides that, great site!

  25. Itís nearly impossible to find educated people in this particular topic, however, you sound like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks

  28. I blog often and I really appreciate your information. Your article has really peaked my interest. I’m going to book mark your website and keep checking for new details about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed too.

  33. Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you so much, However I am experiencing problems with your RSS. I donít understand the reason why I can’t subscribe to it. Is there anybody having identical RSS problems? Anyone who knows the solution can you kindly respond? Thanks!!

  34. Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely feel this site needs much more attention. Iíll probably be returning to read through more, thanks for the advice!

  35. A motivating discussion is worth comment. I believe that you need to write more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo subject but usually people do not speak about these topics. To the next! Best wishes!!

  37. Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It will always be interesting to read content from other writers and use something from other sites.

  39. Hello there! I could have sworn Iíve been to your blog before but after browsing through some of the articles I realized itís new to me. Anyways, Iím definitely happy I came across it and Iíll be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!

  40. Hi there! I could have sworn Iíve been to this website before but after browsing through a few of the posts I realized itís new to me. Anyways, Iím definitely happy I stumbled upon it and Iíll be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!

  41. Howdy! This blog post couldnít be written much better! Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I am going to send this article to him. Pretty sure he’s going to have a great read. Thank you for sharing!

  42. I seriously love your website.. Great colors & theme. Did you build this site yourself? Please reply back as Iím planning to create my own site and would like to find out where you got this from or just what the theme is called. Thanks!

  44. Howdy, I do believe your website may be having web browser compatibility issues. Whenever I look at your site in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in IE, it has some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Aside from that, wonderful site!

  46. This is the right web site for anyone who would like to find out about this topic. You know so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will need toÖHaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a topic that’s been written about for ages. Excellent stuff, just excellent!

  49. May I simply just say what a relief to uncover someone that truly understands what they’re talking about on the internet. You definitely understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More and more people must check this out and understand this side of the story. I can’t believe you’re not more popular because you definitely have the gift.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *