I recently found myself, together with some friends and colleagues, in the unenviable position where our integrity (essentially our character) was questioned. It was our personal integrity that was questioned at first, and then our corporate integrity in terms of how we conduct ourselves in the workplace.
Interestingly, the accusations came from fellow believers and fellow harvesters in the fields of God. Be that as it may, these types of accusations can lead to some intimate times of self-reflection, a time where one can test the motives of one's own heart. Ultimately, I needed to prove to myself that there was no basis to the accusations.
A negative side-effect of a situation like this, is that one could simply give in to the accusations and give up on one's calling and vision from God. Should this happen one would simply be guilty of the "fear of man."
The fear of man is debilitating at best, and all strong leaders avoid this trap! It is this fear that will paralyse a leader to make the right and effective choices that will lead him to success. When one is constantly held back by, "What will they think?" and "How will they react if I do this or that?" then progress can never happen. This irrational fear of man will prevent a leader (and by implication his entire team) from having the courage to make mistakes and fail, and in so doing stopping a natural learning process to achieve success. The fear of man will see the leader avoid failure, and as Robert Kiyosaki rightly remarked, "If you avoid failure you'll also avoid success." Rather, one should fear the Lord, and by this we mean to hold the plans, opinions and intentions of God in high regard and to worship Him simply for whom He is! When we worship God we are safely ensconced in His presence and that is a place of safety far away from negative issues and things that can hamper progress [Proverbs 29:25].
So let me encourage you to keep close to the voice of God, and to obey Him no matter what others think or say. Don't be foolish and ignore wise counsel from others, but be confident in the leading of God.
