“O would some power the
giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us.”
This phrase from the poet Robert
Burns in “To a Louse” floats in my mind as
I prepare to start a midweek Bible study/discussion group
on September 13. We’ll read and discuss a simple
book called Leadership and Self-Deception. Published in
2001, this book made a significant impact in the business
community. Curious, I read it and remember thinking that
this was one of the most Christian books I had ever read,
yet no in place does it make any appeal to the Bible or
to God.
The writers use the image of
“being in the box” when people behave in ways
that suggest that their self-concept may be distorted
in one way or another. The authors believe that we enter
“the box” when we betray ourselves by not
following through on something we sense we should do for
someone else. When we do that, we start justifying our
actions by blaming others rather than being willing to
look more carefully at ourselves. The authors call this
the move to create “self-justifying images.”
I believe Jesus said something about “taking the
logs out of our own eyes” that seems to support
this idea!
This contention struck me:
“If people act in ways that challenge the claim
made by a self-justifying image, we see them as threats.
If they reinforce the claim made by a self-justifying
image, we see them as allies. If they fail to matter to
a self-justifying image, we see them as unimportant. Whichever
way we see them, they’re still just objects to us.”
That is pure “in the box” reasoning—turning
others into objects instead of treating them as full human
beings, stamped with the image of God upon their souls.
All are welcome to join in
this study and journey to greater self-awareness—to
see ourselves as others see us and escape the box of self-deception.
We begin Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. at the Krum United Methodist
Church, 310 W. McCart. We'll meet in the Board Room in
the education wing.
