Connect the dots
October 13, 2009 | Just thinking out loud, Ministry Life
I listened to Apple’s Steve Jobs this morning while I worked on a couple of projects. He said something that really made me think. He was talking to a prestigious college graduate class. “This may be the closest I get to a real graduation,” he said, mentioning that he never completed college.
But he went on to say, “that doesn’t mean that I didn’t continue to learn”.
Jobs slept on friend’s floors and couches so he could attend classes. Random classes. Professors and subjects that intrigued him. Like graphic design. Or a business class. None of these classes produced a diploma, but what it did accomplish was to help him grow in those areas where he was naturally talented and interested.
And when he started working at Apple and designing the first Mac, that information connected the dots. His graphic design class helped him create great typography. The business or marketing classes helped him launch the new computer in a market dominated by another product.
I want to be a life-time learner. I want to listen to talented speakers and I want to read books in every genre. I want to start my days on my knees, tuning into the One who has all knowledge and perception — for my life, for those I meet, for those I pray for and love.
I love it when the dots connect.
I hear someone else’s POV and it affects my writing. How can I answer her question? How can I put myself in her shoes and see God from her perspective?
I read about other cultures. Instead of an American Christian with American doctrine, I can bond with a body of Christ and the common denominator is Jesus.
The dots connect as I step into a woman’s life for a moment who has lost a son, whose husband deserted her, who has been favored with lots of money and uses it for the good of others, or I listen to a man who shares what men think.
One of the most dangerous aspects of ministry is to live in a vacuum. It’s a cliche, I know. But it’s also a trap.
We minister with messages that are tried and true, and after a while we forget the woman sitting in the audience. Or worse, we think we’ve got her all figured out, looking at our own life and experiences, and we toss out trite formulas (if you will just do A and B, the result will always be C).
Or we have so tuned out the quiet, powerful voice of God that knows every person sitting in the audience intimately.
Growth isn’t a one-day process, it’s a life time of searching, seeking, maturing, listening, and allowing the Holy Spirit to connect the dots.
What are you reading to, listening to, learning? I’d love to hear about it.
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I love to read also. I am reading YOU were BORN for THIS by Bruce Wilkinson. It is about FAITH WALKING which encourages me. I minister to women in a very poor neighborhood. God invited me(nudged me) to speak in their community room. Watching God work in this dark place has taught me lots. He has shown me His compassion for those who are in bondage. Everyone is valuable and loved. The Lord notices if I really get that. He continually calls me to do unto others like I would want done to me. He is turning around my thinking about speaking. The Lord wants me to look for places to use my gifts. If I am waiting to be booked by some nice church in a nice place with a nice fee, I am not really understanding my call. I am to go, shine, and tell of the things He has done. What God does with it is up to Him. I am learning to see a little more from His perspective. His mercy is new for me on days I forget these things. Today God reinforced that He is ordering my steps and enjoying teaching me even though I’m as slow as a turtle. He loves me. He really loves me…this I know.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:08 pmBlessings, Barbara