Influential People

Have you ever noticed that certain people come into and out of our lives throughout our lives ... and they seem to have wildly different levels of impact on us. There are many people in my life. Many of them have been there in the past too. I suppose hundreds, at least.

But as I look at them, I notice something peculiar. It seems that only a handful of them fall into some category that I think differently about. They are different from the hundreds. The impact they made on my life is different than even family could have had. I wonder if I've ever really taken the time to consider why that is.

To be sure, I think very fondly of them. In some respects, these were people who gave me hope. I made a list of these people this week. I was surprised at the length of the list. It's relatively short. And I was surprised at the criteria - the common theme.

They were among the many people who've taken the time to get to know me. But they did it differently than everyone else I've ever known. It's as if they singled me out ... to make an investment in me.

I think they took a risk on me. They made a bet on me. They could have lost big time. But they didn't. They gave me grace (i.e., unmerited favor) --- but it paid off for them. Let me share a couple of them with you.

Leah Johnston was my English teacher in the 8th grade. I'd had a very difficult time in 7th grade and was an emotional mess. She saw something in me though. I was selected to step out of her class twice a week to go and tutor second graders in reading. It made me feel special. It gave me hope. In years past, more than once I've said Mrs. Johnston probably saved my life. If it weren't for her giving me some hope, I suspect I would have continued to spiral badly downward.

Fred Terwilliger was my boss at a Chrysler dealership. I had wanted to try my hand at selling cars. I got a job with a high volume dealer, totally botched it and got fired. But Fred took a risk on me. He took me under his wing, hired me, mentored me, humored me and helped me learn to have some confidence in my own abilities. He used to call me "Herbie." I've never been sure why. But I will always fondly recall Fred. He could have called me anything he wanted to.

Daniel McBride was one of my customers at the Chrysler dealership. He was an old man, in a wheel chair. He'd been successful and I believed him to be wealthy at the time. He must have bought three cars from me in the course of a year. I look back and wonder if his kids didn't think him a bit cynical squandering that money on new cars. But he would have me bring the cars to his house. I would sit in his living room and ask him questions about life. My own father had died when I was quite young - so I had a lot of questions. I was a simple car salesman, but Mr. McBride took a chance and invested in me. It was 1977 --- and I still remember him for that.

Terry King was my boss at a mortgage company in Houston. I had moved there with no job. I was desperate. He had no job for me, except for an opening for a typist. But he let me take the typing test, hired me, and I ended up with a solid career in that industry. In the few short years I worked for him, he had to tell me to dress better, coach me on how to handle myself, and mentor me in several unusual ways. (I was pretty clueless!) I tracked him down in San Francisco last October. I hadn't seen him since 1984. We spent a couple hours talking and I thanked him for giving me such a wonderful start in life. I will forever be grateful.

Are you starting to see the pattern here? Ordinary people. Ordinary encounters. But extraordinary results. To be fair, these are not the only people who've cared about me, invested in me, taken a chance on me or tried to give me hope or mentor me. So why are they different? There about 8 of them in total. Most of them were in a position of authority over me. But they used it in extraordinary ways.

I'm still noodling on this and trying to comprehend what God has been doing in my life. I'm beginning to suspect that among the dozens of people God has used to minister to me over the years, these eight were "special agents" of His handiwork with me. I'm so grateful for that. And it makes me wonder if He might be using me as a "special agent" of His handiwork in someone else!

Church Organization

Many years ago, I saw my calling from God in the Bible. It was the story of Aaron and Hur holding up Moses' arms in battle. As long as Moses, God's chosen leader for the Israelites, had his arms up - he won the battle. Since it was impossible for Moses to physically sustain that posture - Aaron and Hur stood on either side of him and held his arms in the air to ensure that he won the battle God had called him to. It crystallized for me and I realized I was created to hold up the arms of God's chosen leaders in battle.

Since my own personal epiphany, I've found myself naturally drawn to two different ministry endeavors. They are my ministry calling. The first is to support "broken pastors." Many pastors get wounded in the battles God calls them to. Some pastors are tempted beyond what they were prepared to endure and fall into sin. My calling is to help nurse them back to health and get them back into the game. The second is to train and coach pastors. Particularly in third world countries, men (and women) are called to lead Christian communities. Unfortunately most of them cannot afford any kind of training (such as seminary). So I work with accredited ministries to go and train them.

One of the things that often comes up in ministry is the hierarchy of the church. Who is in charge and why are they in charge? More than once I've found myself having to explain the difference between a Senior Pastor and a "Senior Preacher." They guy is a good preacher, a gifted teacher - but he finds himself failing miserably at leading his church. And he wonders why. The answer is that church leadership has an order ordained by God. If we don't follow that order, we're simply inviting trouble.

I Corinthians 12:28 explains it this way: "And in the church, God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues."

Did you catch that order for church hierarchy? Let's break it down like a modern cultural organization chart.

Jesus is of course the head of the church. Then the roles are as follows:

1 - Apostles (those who've seen Jesus personally and in the flesh)
2 - Prophets (those who speak for God)
3 - Teachers (those who instruct in God's ways and teach the lessons of life)
4 - Workers of Miracles & Gifts of Healing (those who can directly minister healing to others)
5 - Those Able To Help Others (servants to others thrive and achieve their potential)
6 - Those With Gifts of Administration (organizers, planners, coordinators, etc.)
7 - Those speaking in different kinds of tongues (including prayer languages)

There it is, God's order for church hierarchy. Now, where do you think most pastors fall? Let's be clear, most are not prophets. Few of us were chosen by Christ Himself to be His personal disciples. Few among us have had Damascus road experiences like Paul did. So for most of us, Apostle is off the table. So that takes us to Prophets and Teachers. I don't have statistics to support this, but my own personal experience and observation has been that most pastors are not prophets - but they are gifted teachers. Preaching and teaching is their love and passion.

So what's the difference between a Prophet and a Teacher? Why can't a good preacher be a solid Prophet? Here's the thing about that. Look at how God speaks in the Old Testament. Often God is angry; often He has to say some things that are difficult to say. Sometimes God's words are confrontational. They're more than exhortation. You see, the Prophet often has to say things that nobody wants to hear (even though they know it's true).

Few people delight in the works of a good Prophet (at least while he's alive). On the other hand, people are drawn to good teachers. In fact, they get great pleasure from sitting at the feet of a good teacher. Good teachers are celebrated. But what happens when a good teacher tries to execute the duties of a good prophet ... without having the giftedness to do so? Well, this is where we get pastor burn-out. This is where we get congregations that are fed up with their pastors. This is where pastors get immersed in such intense pain that they can hardly function.

If I were designing the "perfect church" structure, I would look closely at 1 Corinthians 12:28. Then I would make sure there is a prophet in charge. But I would rarely let him teach! Instead, I would get a good teacher - to work under the prophet. And under that teacher we would begin to organize and build our church.

The Apostle Paul had one more thing to say about this model for the gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, he said, "But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way." In the original translations, the word "greater" means something like "span of impact or influence." In other words, Paul is telling us to desire the gifts that can influence or impact the most people.

Ironically, the further down the hierarchy you go - the greater those gifts become. Gifts of service, for example, can impact and influence more people than teaching gifts; so they are the greater gifts that we should all aspire to. And if we will do as Paul says, he promises to show us a "most excellent way!"