Dear Friend,
One of my favorite quotes is by Isaac Newton, "Tact is the art
of making a point without making an enemy.
What made me think of this was an e-mail I received yesterday
asking to be taken off my Leadership Thought mailing list.
My friend was honest and tactful. His message didn’t scream,
“Take me off your mailing list, I don’t need any more junk to read as I
already have too many unwanted e-mails taking up space on my computer screen.”
No, my friend was kind and thoughtful, and his closing words
caught my attention. “I am not looking for another devotional. I already get
too many of them, but I am always open to chat with a brother in Christ.”.
I hope my response to him was gracious and tactful and I made
every effort for it to be so. I thanked him for his honesty, and I told him I
completely understood, for I often feel the same way about unwanted email that
screams for my attention.
I closed by giving him my phone number and told him “I was always
open to chat with a brother in Christ,” and I hoped he might feel free to call
me any time.
My Leadership Thought mailing list has substantially grown over
the years, and I have no way of knowing how many of you immediately click the
delete button each morning when the words “Leadership Thought” pop up on your
screen.
If this is you, I apologize. Most of us are already too busy to be
bothered by unwanted e-mails., so please help me update my mailing list by
simply asking to be “unsubscribed.” Trust me, you won’t be the first to make
such a request.
Paul reminds us we are “to speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15),
something my unsubscribing friend did so very well.
So, in all of our communication, let us be conditioned to “speak
the truth in love.” We already have too many cancel culture communicators who
may know the truth but who lack the relational ability to combine that truth
with love. Both are needed.
And like I shared with my unsubscribing friend, if you would
rather chat about truth rather than read about it, please send me your phone
number and I’ll be glad to give you a call.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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