Sucker in the Dirt? by @ShelleyHendrix #Leadership #TeamWork #Attitude

Sucker in the Dirt?

by Shelley Hendrix

Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4 Amplified

My husband, Stephen, uses this phrase at times, "He threw his sucker in the dirt..." The first time he used it, I had to ask him to clarify what he meant, because I had never heard that phrase before (which, incidentally, is not unusual: the Hendrix's have all kinds of sayings most of us have never heard before!)  He told me it meant that the person gets offended and behaves like a child who thinks they're retaliating by "throwing their own sucker in the dirt," refusing to play.  The picture, as we see, is that the kid throwing the sucker is really only hurting himself, while he thinks he is taking a grand stand to assert his rights to have his way.

I am concerned about how many people in the Church are doing this very thing on a regular basis.  I'm also concerned about how Christians in the workplace are doing this, too.  I'm definitely concerned when I see this kind of thing try to rise up in me. 

We are all both leaders and followers, in varying degrees certainly, and as such, we need to be aware of how easy it is for us to think we know what's best for the organization.  In making this assumption, realize just how easy it is for us to miss out on what God might be doing in our midst simply because we get our feelings hurt or our ideas get rejected at one time or another.  When we decide we aren't going to "play" anymore, and we throw our own sucker in the dirt and walk away, we need to realize that we will be the ones who miss out on the fun and excitement when God's plan is finally revealed.


I look at it this way:  God, who is smarter than me and with better resources and knowledge, has asked me to come along for the ride.  Like a kid headed out on vacation, I don't get to determine where we're going, how we're going to get there, who's going to pay for things along the way, or what we're going to do when we get there, BUT, I DO get to go!

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What about you? When are you most tempted to throw your sucker in the dirt and refuse to play? 

How do you combat the pull to have it your way in your organization?