"Treating others the way you want to be treated"

So here is the situation. You are working just fine. You love your job, you like what you do, you don’t mind getting up early or working late to make sure things get accomplished and out of the blue you are told your services are no longer needed. Professional we call their action and describe the situation as being “laid off”. In most cases, the most negative way to describe your situation is that you were fired. These words no one wants to hear. I’ve had the opportunity to attend and participate in a lot of seminars that deal with hiring and firing. One thing that should be true is that anyone who is about to be let go, so have a clear understanding before the fact, of the options under consideration. Being caught off guard is the norm but it should not be the standard. A good employer, a good supervisor should be working with their employees helping to ensure that expectations, goals and standards are always not only understood, but effort and support from the employer to help the employee succeed are required. My expectations and experiences are on both sides of this issue. As an employer, my expectations are higher for myself then for anyone else. I expect understand I am the leader, the decision maker, but working to gather opinions, different thoughts and ideas are valuable. Sometimes leaders will run into a problem with those who want to give their opinions, thoughts and ideas. Normally this issue is one where the givers have lots of answers, but never work toward any resolution or solution. This is a problem. My personal expectations for myself involve follow through and follow up. I’ve heard, and witnessed many great comments and ideas, but sometimes the manner in which they are delivered seals their doom without any consideration. Team work is an important part of life. Not that you cannot have your own opinion and not that it has to agree with anyone. However, listening to someone in a genuine manner is the key to agreeing to disagree. Respect because you listened is the element that keeps things moving forward. This former paragraph is important because most issues could be settled without “firing” someone. The real issue is lack of cooperation, teamwork and buy-in. Experience on this subject comes from both perspectives. As a minister you might think what does this look or feel like from this point of view? When you surrender to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ you think to yourself what could do wrong, nothing? You have surrendered to serve others, why would people not want help, and surely everyone is going to love me—wrong. For a minister, a single deacon who sees themselves as overseer and not a servant could be the first problem. A committee who has an agenda other than the gospel could be a problem. A minister’s nightmare for church work would be a group that is committed to seeing specific plans fail or worse case you leave. Finding oneself out of employment is not a pleasant experience even when you have a valid warning or advance notice. A surprise disconnection leaves so many things unanswered and lingering thoughts can hang around for years if they go unresolved. So what is the answer for all parties involved and more especially for Christians when dealing with issues such as these? Something must be said Biblically speaking for “treating others as you want to be treated”. This covers all sides. This type of standard permits everyone to be involved, it offers opportunity to talk, to share, and be heard. Often times we assume things as fact and negative is most often the first consideration when we should be positive and consider first the fact that something might just well be miscommunicated or not true at all. Explanations are always good. This would be my suggestion for difficult moments. It could be that as an employee you will never receive this type of fair treatment. Could be as an employer you need to change some practices. The Good News about Jesus Christ is that he totally understands being mistreated too. He was lied about and Jesus was also dismissed. Only time proved Him to be just who he said he was. Time will do the same for me and you too. Until then