Destroy or Be Destroyed

Here’s an odd question to muse on a Monday morning:  Are you spending enough time destroying things?  There are negative elements that invade every leadership culture that sometimes can only be eliminated in a deconstructive manner.I find it very interesting when God placed Jeremiah in leadership, one of the first things he said to him was, “See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."  Jer 1:10Unhealthy attitudes, values and behaviors had crept in and taken root in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem so God gave Jeremiah a six fold job description: uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow, build and plant. Notice that four out of the six were destructive actions, while two were constructive.   I was wrestling with this verse this morning and that's when the question hit me: Have I allowed anything to creep into my organization, team or life that needs to be destroyed?Now please understand, I like construction much better than deconstruction.   I like the “build” and “plant” part of this verse.  I would prefer spending my leadership energies building people, building morale, building unity, planting vision, planting hope or planting ideas.  But according to this verse there are times a leader must play a deconstruction role, times when we have to “uproot, tear down, destroy, or overthrow.”  Take a look around today…

• Is there an unhealthy behavior that's been built up…perhaps it’s time to tear it down.
• is there a negative attitude that's taken root… perhaps it’s time to uproot it.
• Is there a harmful value that's taken your culture captive…perhaps it’s time to overthrow it.
• Is there a sin that's developed…perhaps it’s time to ask God to help you destroy it.

Is there anything that has crept into your culture that needs to be destroyed before it does any more damage?