Go to those who want you. But especially go to those who want you the most.
This is an old John Wesley principle that speaks to the fact that not everybody is going to like us. Not everybody will give us the time of day. Not everybody will appreciate what we bring to the table.
It’s not just a religious insight, it’s a human insight. Back in the day, companies engaged in mass marketing to hit the middle of the bell shaped curve and offer decent enough products. With limited shelf space and television commercials to choose from, consumers settled for something in the middle of this bell shaped reality. And yet a television show is now a smashing success with less than 1% of the population tuning in. A new product doesn’t need to make it to the shelves of our local Wal Mart; it just needs to find traction with a little tribe who really wants it.
I want to call us to experiment. To be willing to step out and see how God is leading us to create. And innovate. And to find our voice. I don’t want my life to be an echo. I don’t want our ministry to be a cheap knock-off of some great original. I don’t want our leaders so crippled by fear that we shy away from trying things because we’re afraid of the critics’ reviews from the middle of the bell shaped curve.
Do you have an idea for a microchurch that only 1% of the population would ever take seriously? It just might change the world. Do you envision an approach you’ve never seen done? Go read the Bible; that’s how God rolls. Are you holding off because of the intimidation of the big belly of the bell shaped curve? Enough is enough.
It’s why I love this word go. We don’t simply move for the sake of moving, but we realize that Jesus said, as the Father sent Me, so I send you. Do you have any idea how many of our problems and how much of our soul-dullness is the result of our failure to embrace our sentness?
I dare you to look for the clues to your calling and say this: “Here I am; send me.”
I realize everybody is not ready. And I accept the fact that everybody will not like us. But we don’t make our impact in the middle of the bell shaped curve. Just give us a God-inspired 1% or 5% who really, really want it, and watch us change the world.
Hey leaders, stop wasting your life trying to entertain the lukewarm.
Who “wants you”? Who wants Him? Who’s hungry? Who’s listening? Who’s broken? Who’s interested? Who’s curious? Let’s go.
