Roles

I have been turning over a saying in my mind for several months now. Earlier this year Dr. Ralph Winter passed away and I was reading about his life and reflections from his family, friends, and co-workers. Something that came up repeatedly was his love for a Dawson Trotman saying that goes something like this. "Don't spend your time doing what others can do, spend your time doing what others can't do." That is probably not exactly right, as far as a quote goes, but you get the idea.

Dr. Winter seemed to apply that thought to his life and ended up with a role that he was uniquely qualified to fill. So I look around at our church and I ask myself that question. Am I spending my time doing what others should be doing or am I doing what others can't do? It seem that if I am going to use the unique talents and abilities God has given me I need to be working on this.

Somewhere along the way I came across an addition to this that goes something like this. "Spend your time doing what others can't do, or you can't motivate them to do." (Not exactly sure where this came from.) That is a little more awkward but something that I think a lot of pastors relate to. We see the potential but can't motivate people to act for one reason or another.

Turning it yet again I began to think about what it would be like to inject more of a servants heart into it. "Do what anyone can do to free others up to do what only they can do." The idea here is that if I take the mundane tasks it will free people to do the really important stuff that no one else can do. The added benefit is that while I do the mundane tasks I can feel like a martyr, and therefore more spiritual. :) Or at least I can feel like I've done penance. (The scene where John Newton is mopping the floor in the movie Amazing Grace comes to mind.) Okay, so maybe it isn't so servant oriented after all, but at least it sounds good.

I guess this quote needs to spin around in my mind some more.