Feb 24

1 Corinthians 1: ²⁷ [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. (AMP)

 

Tony Dungy's devotion hit me harder than most today.  I really like this particular sentence: "...I thought about the many people who had built into my life,..."  He went on to highlight the "opportunity to to speak about the Lord to millions..." and then highlighted one such individual, a middle school principal.  The word "built" implies planning, resourcing, and extended labor with an intentional commitment to completion, quality, and a stake in the final outcome.  This takes a commitment of resources including the most precious, resource, time.  I tend to view programs at work and projects around the house this way, but not my relationships with people.  

 

In fairness to myself, I've spent quite a bit of time teaching Sunday School, working with the youth at Church, other groups, projects, and programs at church as well as Emmaus and Chrysalis.  I tend to focus, however, on the program, project, or effort rather than the people.  Intellectually I know that God commands us into relationships, not programs, but I don't approach life with that intentionality.  So often, my approach is one of "hey, I'm gonna be there and do my thing with whoever shows" rather than focusing on building into the lives of individuals. 

 

I wonder if this isn't a trap by Satan.  If you look at our church today, our focus is on programs and budgets and we count the numbers in church as a measure of success.  If this had been Jesus' priority, he would have scurried around the countryside trying to baptize as many as he could.  His ministry would have been more than 3 years, and he might have waited until today to leverage mass media and telecommunication to reach the entire world.  Instead, he lived with great intentionality into the lives of just 12 men.  Obviously he preached and ministered to thousands of others, but with the exception of a few occasions the vast majority of the Gospels are dedicated to Him relating in a real, intentional, and personal way to one or a few people at a time.

 

Lord change my worldview from a focus on building things to building people, yet not me, but YOU who is in me.  I pray for Your devine inspiration in my roles at church to encourage us to always seek Your will in all we do and to keep a laser-like focus on building and relating to people rather than programs and budgets.