Sincerity

Being grateful is an American tradition, especially this week. And research has shown that it has mental- and physical-health benefits, including less depression and better sleep, relationships and success at work.

But a recent article on The Wall Street Journal argued that what it calls “performative gratitude” may be bad for you. The article states: “Performative gratitude—compelling ourselves to be grateful when we’re not—is a form of toxic positivity. The energy we expend trying to avoid the uncomfortable feeling will, ironically, keep us focused on the problem. Then we feel guilty because we failed to be grateful.”

“Forced gratitude is manipulating,” says Sara Kuburic, a psychotherapist based in Sydney. “It prevents us from taking responsibility to change things to make them the way we want them to be.”

Pushing ourselves to feel grateful can harm our relationships, too. If we’re putting on a facade, we’re not being honest, and that can lead to resentment and a lack of communication. It can also make us appear like a Pollyanna—someone out of touch with reality. And this can leave us vulnerable to people who see us as a pushover.
One of the researchers said, “Grateful people may be perceived to be more forgiving and tolerant, so others may feel they can get away with something.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

The Bible urges us to be grateful for the Lord and his good character—but that can still allow room to express negative emotions like sadness or anger, as we see so often in the psalms of lament, for instance. But that isn’t ingratitude; it’s gratitude that has grappled with sorrow but still trusts in God.

There’s nothing spooky about ghostworking. The newly coined term describes a set of behaviors meant to create a facade of productivity at the office, like walking around carrying a notebook as a prop or typing random words just to generate the sound of a clacking keyboard.

Pretending to be busy at the office is not something workers recently invented, of course, but it appears to be reaching critical mass. According to a new survey, more than half of all U.S. employees now admit to regularly ghostworking.

According to the report, the results show that 58% of employees admit to regularly pretending to work, while another 34% claim they do so from time to time. What might be most striking are some of the elaborate methods workers use to perform productivity. Apparently, 15% of U.S. employees have faked a phone call for a supervisor’s benefit, while 12% have scheduled fake meetings to pad out their calendars, and 22% have used their computer keyboards as pianos to make the music of office ambiance.

As for what these employees are actually doing, in many cases it’s hunting for other jobs. The survey shows that 92% of employees have job searched in some way while on the clock, with 55% admitting they do so regularly.

The ongoing return-to-office resurgence has left many employees feeling like they’re working inside of a fishbowl, performing for the watchful eye of employers. Employees sensing a greater need to broadcast that they’re getting work done. So ghostworking is a performance. It involves actively projecting an appearance of busyness without actually engaging in meaningful work.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Diligence; Employees; Sincerity - Scripture encourages believers to work wholeheartedly, not just for human approval, but as if working for God; 2) Hypocrisy - The act of ghostworking is a kind of hypocrisy—projecting an image that does not match reality.

NFL lineman Jim Marshall was part of the revered “Purple People Eater” Minnesota Viking defensive line. For twenty seasons he never missed a game, earning a reputation for toughness and reliability. On October 25, 1964, playing against the San Francisco 49ers, Marshall recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter and ran untouched for sixty-six yards to the end zone.

After crossing the goal line, he tossed the ball away and began celebrating. Imagine his surprise when an opposing player trotted up, patted him on the back, and thanked him. Marshall suddenly realized that he was standing in the wrong end zone. He had just scored a safety, giving two points to the 49ers. The Vikings still won that day, thanks to eight total turnovers from the 49ers.

On the return flight to Minnesota, teammates ribbed Marshall, who said he simply got confused. “They kept telling me to get up in the cockpit and fly the plane. That way we'd end up in Hawaii instead of Minnesota.”

In football, as in much of life, it doesn’t matter that you’re doing something earnestly if you aren’t doing the right thing.

Two school officials have been suspended after a firestorm of controversy involving a single email. Nicole Joseph and Hasina Mohyuddin are the associate dean and assistant dean, respectively, at the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. The pair of staffers were required to “temporarily step back from their positions,” after they authored an all-campus email responding to the mass shooting at Michigan State University just days earlier. The email sparked outrage because some of the text was credited as having been written by ChatGPT, the popular AI writing tool.

It’s ironic that both deans worked in the college’s Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, because most of the complaints stemmed from the fact that students didn’t feel the emails were particularly inclusive or equitable. On the contrary, student Bethanie Stauffer felt it was “disgusting.” She said, “There is a sick and twisted irony to making a computer write your message about community and togetherness because you can’t be bothered to reflect on it yourself.”

The next day, Joseph sent an apology email, but the damage had been done. Senior Laith Kayat said, “Deans, provosts, and the chancellor: Do more. Do anything. And lead us into a better future with genuine, human empathy, not a robot. [Administrators] only care about perception and their institutional politics of saving face.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

It is better to be authentic and make an effort to communicate, rather than using shortcuts. Leaders must demonstrate a commitment to serving and resist thoughtless communication.

49-year-old German brewery worker Erwin Kreuz blew his life savings on a once-in-a-lifetime birthday trip to San Francisco. He’d seen it on TV, and he wanted to visit the Wild West. As the flight from Frankfurt stopped to refuel in Bangor, Maine, before continuing on to California, an air stewardess who had finished her shift told Kreuz to “have a nice time in San Francisco.” Her choice of words would change Kreuz’s life.

Kreuz, who typically enjoyed drinking 17 beers a day, was a little groggy, and on hearing this, got off the plane, jumped in a cab and asked the driver to take him to the city. The cab dropped Kreuz at a hotel in downtown Bangor and he found a tavern to quench his almighty thirst. He wandered Bangor for three days enjoying the sights and sounds that Maine had to offer. Unfortunately, Kreuz still thought he was in San Francisco.

Kreuz was certain he was in San Francisco, and he didn’t stop believing that for three very strange days. At one point Kreuz was reassured by the sight of two Chinese restaurants in the town, something he knew was in San Francisco from the movies. After much wandering, Kreuz decided he must be in a Bay Area suburb, so he hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take him to downtown San Francisco. The driver sped away as though Kreuz was crazy.

Kreuz returned to the tavern and tried to get some help from a waitress. The language barrier was too great, so she put him in contact with Gertrude Romine who spoke German. Romine and her family took Kreuz into their home, and word spread of the lost tourist, first to the Bangor Daily News, then nationally, then the world.

Hearing of his story, The San Francisco Examiner paid for Kreuz to fly out to his initial destination. When there, he was treated like a visiting dignitary. Kreuz was welcomed by the mayor, who presented him with a proclamation declaring that San Francisco does, in fact, exist.

Kreuz was soon due back at work at the brewery and, after four days in San Francisco, boarded a flight back home holding a “Please let me off in Frankfurt” sign.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Confusion; Eternity; Heaven; Lostness – This humorous story also has a sobering application for all who go through life assuming that at the end of life’s journey they will find themselves in heaven, only to discover that they are greatly mistaken. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 14:12; 16:25).

In her attempts to end the legal conservatorship that prevents her from controlling her own legal or fiscal affairs, former pop star and embattled single mom Britney Spears has been gaining support from plenty of notable celebrities. But for one entertainment journalist, his support was not received among Spears’ fanbase with open arms.

One Twitter user responded, “If you’re really sorry, put your money where your mouth is. Donate all of the *considerable* wealth you got through misogynistic bullying.”

That tweet was aimed at veteran entertainment blogger Mario Lavandeira, who uses the nom de plume Perez Hilton. Britney Spears supporters have been taking Hilton to task for his decade-long history of disrespectful behavior toward the pop star. His behavior helped to generate income on his gossip blog and establish his career as a go-to purveyor of celebrity sleaze.

Because of this considerable blowback, Hilton has been on an apology tour, trying to atone for his history of media misbehavior. Hilton appeared on British TV show Sky News and said, “I know I did not express myself as well as I could have. I didn’t lead with empathy and compassion, which thankfully seems like most people now are understanding the severity of Britney’s situation. I absolutely apologize and carry deep shame and regret.”

In response to the Twitter exchange, Hilton decided not to contribute to Spears’ legal fight, citing his need to support his children and mother, all of whom are under his care. Still, it seems like the best apology in this case would be changed behavior. Time will tell whether or not Perez Hilton is truly capable of that kind of apology.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we do wrong, it's our Christian duty not only to recognize the wrongdoing and make restitution for it. If our sin was committed publicly, then a public confession can serve as an example to others.

Tributes and remembrances flowed across the internet for entrepreneur Tony Hsieh, former CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, who died at 46 after suffering injuries in a house fire. Hsieh’s influence on corporate culture was felt far and wide. He eventually sold Zappos to Amazon, while still maintaining the freedom to run it as a separate division. In 2010, his corporate autobiographic memoir, Delivering Happiness, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Among his many culture-shaping practices was something known simply as “The Offer.” After a week or so on the job, new employees at Zappos were given an option: they could continue on, or they could take a cash incentive to quit—an initial figure of $1,000 that only grew larger as the company did.

At the time of its inception, it seemed odd to pay people to leave the company, but Hsieh knew that it was worth far more to ensure that everyone who worked at Zappos truly wanted to be there. It is a way to ensure complete buy-in from new hires. But it is also a generous way to reward those who took positions at Zappos only to later regret it. The Offer was a painless off-ramp for the less-than-fully-committed. The radical idea was consistent with his business philosophy: “we don’t sell shoes; we sell customer service.”

The idea quickly caught on, and as proof of its appeal, it spread to Amazon after it purchased Zappos in 2009. Business writer Bill Murphy summed up its lesson in a recent profile for Inc: “Life is far too short to follow the wrong path. And today is always a great day to start finding the right one.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The call of discipleship should not be made lightly. One should count the cost before deciding to follow the way of Jesus, for it requires complete dedication and surrender.

Author Gad Saad is one of the leading voices exposing the harm and folly of political correctness in the US and Canada. In his most recent book, he explores the current futile practice known as “virtue signaling.” Most often on social media, people express moral outrage just by hash-tagging a cause and doing nothing else. Just one example is the #BringBackOurGirls, that was used by millions globally because of the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls by Boko Haram. The only thing that came out of all the virtue signaling was the feeding of one’s ego and the social message that they are progressive and a good person.

Saad gives an example of a public display of valor known as “costly signaling”:

The Sateré-Mawé, an indigenous Amazonian tribe, have a very powerful way of differentiating prospective warriors from their fake counterparts. They sedate bullet ants, whose sting is akin to being shot, and then weave them into leaf gloves. Initiates wear the gloves for several minutes and must withstand the stings of hundreds of these ants as they come out of their sedated torpor. One sting causes unimaginable pain, and yet the inductees must withstand the suffering with restrained dignity (they cannot holler).

One such ordeal would be sufficient to test anyone’s toughness, and yet the young men must endure this tribulation twenty separate times. If all it took to become a warrior was the completion of ten push-ups, nearly everyone could complete the task. ... (It is) a rite of passage that serves as an honest signal of toughness and courage, and you’ve solved the problem of identifying the fakers.

You can watch the YouTube video of the tribal ritual here.

Comedian Louis C.K. says the following about faith without works:

I have a lot of beliefs .… And I live by none of them. That's just the way I am. They're just my beliefs. I just like believing them—I like that part. They're my little "believies." They make me feel good about who I am. But if they get in the way of a thing I want, I [sure as heck just do what I want to do].

After surgery, Charles Utley of San Diego discovered a swollen bump on his backside. It didn't subside as he healed. Utley soon discovered that his surgeon had left a sponge behind while sewing him up.

Rachel Zimmerman, in The Wall Street Journal says, "Even when doctors make mistakes this egregious, they customarily refuse to admit it, lest they encourage patients to sue." It's called "defend and deny."

But Utley's doctor did something astonishing. "I was responsible," the surgeon told him. "I apologize for this." Utley decided not to sue, explaining that his doctor had "honored me as a human being." Other doctors and hospitals, The Journal reports, are also discovering that "an authentically offered apology" does wonders heading off lawsuits. Patients, they're finding, can accept the fact that doctors are fallible. What infuriates them—and drives them to seek revenge—is when doctors say, "What sponge? I don't remember any sponge."