Exodus 20:3-4
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:"
One of the common complaints I hear from progressive liberal Christians is that I shouldn't be so negative in my preaching.
They constantly say that being positive will bring more results than being negative. Now, I'm not saying that being positive doesn't produce results, but only being positive will actually produce negative results.
Let me illustrate. Years ago I went to flight school to learn how to fly an airplane. Let's say my instructor took on the mentality of always being positive and never saying anything negative. So, he takes the plane to get us into the air and turns the controls over to me. As I begin to fly, he compliments me on how I am so observant to carefully turn the wheel but never points out that I'm going the wrong direction. When I go to land the plane, he compliments me on my confidence in landing the plane, but never tells me that my descent is too fast and that I'm too low. If that was how he trained me, then I would not be around to write this devotional. Actually, my instructor was very negative in how he trained me. He constantly pointed out what I was doing wrong, but his negative training produced positive results.
God understood that we needed the negative so we could get a positive response in life. Several times through the Book of Exodus God tells us not to do certain things. Is God trying to take my fun away? Not at all! In fact, God is trying to make my life more enjoyable by warning me about things that will hurt the quality of my life. God knows that we need the negative so that life can be much better. If God was always positive, then we would never know what not to do, and not knowing our boundaries would produce negative results.
Leaders must be careful about thinking they must never be negative. Certainly you want to produce a positive atmosphere in whatever realm you lead, but you must understand that setting negative parameters is what helps you to have the positive atmosphere you desire. When you set the negative rules of what people can't do, then that gives positive boundaries that everyone can live within.
Parents, don't be afraid to be negative with your children. Though society may say that will run your children off, it will in fact help your children to know what they can't do so you can have a good and positive relationship with them. If you don't set the negative in the home, then you will never have the positive.
Preachers, don't fall for the liberal mentality that you can't be negative in your preaching. Negative preaching produces positive results. Certainly, there should be positive sermons preached, but don't avoid the negative because you don't want to be perceived as being negative.
Finally, no matter what area you may lead in, setting up the negative guidelines of what people cannot do will give you the positive results you desire. Weak leaders are always positive. Strong leaders understand that they must be negative at times to produce positive results.
Always remember that you must have negative before you can have positive. Certainly, you must have a balance of both in leadership, but if you don't establish the negative, then you will find a negative influence that will be hard to remove.