While in Australia, I heard a speaker share the following thought: “People want to feel like they are contributing to something. It may not change big things, but they are having impact.”
My first thought was to think of the people that we work with or the active participants of various community of believers with which we are involved. People want to be part of something. They want to feel that their ‘small part’ is somehow contributing to a larger whole that brings ultimate change. Maybe this is why so many seek community in our days? However, as with a previous post, I wonder if we as workers don’t often stifle that involvement or hinder the impact that others long to have by the simple fact of our doing most of the ministry ourselves.
Then my thoughts turned to us as workers and I realized that we, like anyone else, long to have impact in our world. However, maybe we believe that impact will only come as we ‘do’ the bulk of ministry activity? Maybe we struggle to share, delegate or give away ministry to others because it feels like we will lose impact? Maybe we can’t see how our impact might actually be multiplied as we share it with others?
One step in multiplying impact by ‘sharing work’ with others might be by simply listening to the input and counsel of others. In 2 Kings 5, we read about the Syrian commander Naaman who sought healing for his leprosy. It’s a story that many of us know quite well. However, if you take away the involvement or intervention of the young servant girl working for Naaman’s wife and the servants who traveled with Naaman, the story would take a completely different turn. Their words had incredible impact in the life of Naaman. Despite their low status, he chose to listen to them and the outcome is Naaman’s redemption.
“People want to feel like they are contributing to something. It may not change big things, but they are having impact.”
Filed under: Delegation, Influence, Mission | 2 Comments »
Thoughts Along The Journey 