Everybody is Good at Something
If you’re a leader, no doubt you struggle with helping people find their fit. In our “You can do it!” “You’re special!” “You’re a snowflake!” culture, we’ve inadvertently raised a generation and created an environment where just because someone wants to do something, they believe they’re able to do something.
Can we be transparent with one another for just a moment? (I say this to you, and no one else.) Not everyone is good at everything. Not everybody who wants to lead worship should be given a microphone. Not everyone who wants to preach should be given a pulpit. Not everybody is friendly enough to greet guests, not everybody is organized enough to manage a budget, and not everybody is patient enough to deal with kids.
But before we make the colossal mistake of writing people off because of what they’re not gifted to do, perhaps we should do the due diligence to discover what they are gifted to do. Just because they can’t sing doesn’t mean they can’t serve. Just because they’re not good one-on-one with kids doesn’t mean they can’t rock a spreadsheet.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul reminds us that not everybody gets to be an eye…but that doesn’t mean we don’t need ears. As a leader, you can’t look for that “one crucial part” at the expense of the others. Sure, you owe it to your role to find the hands and feet, the toes and fingers. But you also owe it to your people to find the less-seen but just-as-important parts.
In other words, somebody’s gotta be the spleen.
Here’s your action step: think about the person that “just doesn’t get it.” Think about the one that you’ve long since written off. Think about the talentless, gift-less, skill-less person in your congregation, and take another look. Whether we can see it or not, God gave them a talent, a gift, a skill.
It’s there, you just have to dig.
Everybody’s good at something: what can you help people get good at today?
