This video of Craig Groeschel contains the one quote that I have not only come to love but has been one of the driving forces behind what I do through and for online ministry:
“To reach people that no one is reaching you have to do things that no one is doing.”
I feel that for the first time in my life I’ve done the “planned abandonment” and discovered the “assignment” that God has given for me to do. Thus, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.
Thanks Craig for your words. The impact has been huge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NljMrtXrhaU
Adam_S says
I am ok with the find what God has called you to and do that. I am ok with the do things that others are not (if that is what God has called you to do).
I am a little shaky on "What can you be the very best at". That is way better than Seth Godin's "Unless you can be the best in the world, don't do it". But it still verges on that.
I would say, a better question is (presuming you are following God, have prayed about it and are lead to it) "How can you join together with a community to make that community better at following God."
I know Craig is interested in community and building up the kingdom and not his own little world. And maybe he is saying it somewhere not on this clip. But as he says it on this clip it is a very individualized charge. We as Christians are not called to be individuals we are called to be the church. So that means we need to fit into the body.
Now in the context of the body, the eye is the very best part at seeing things. But the eye can only see things if the eyelid is open. So we need to work at not only doing what we can be best at, we need to also being doing what we are best at in community and partnership with others that are also doing what they are best at.
If we all go running off on our own we are doing exactly what Paul said not to. We are eyes saying to the hand "I have no need of you".
I am probably taking Craig (and John) out of context here. But I think we as Americans have been so bad at this that we need to continually be brought back to better teaching on the church body. There is no such thing as a Christian apart from the body and Christ as its head. (I am not talking about local congregations here, but about the universal church body).
dewde says
Craig so totally stole that quote from Andy. Not sure who Andy stole it from :-).
peace|dewde
human3rror says
i heard that before.
Jeremy says
Actually, Andy stole it from Craig.
Bill Bolte says
hmmm. wow. I'm letting that sink in, because the implications are huge. That is one profound statement. This is something to ponder and wrestle with for a bit.
human3rror says
Yeah. I've been thinking about it for a while now.
JakeSchwein says
We love this quote and use it very often when we are thinking through what things should we do in the community and with our church. Good stuff
Ben Cotten says
He's (or A. Stanley) is totally right. It applies whether you are talking about an individual, church, The Church, etc. It all applies. We copy/compete with each other more than we'd like to admit. Whether it's Willow Creek, Hillsong, Mars Hill, or whatever, it's a rare occasion to see a church that isn't a mashup of one of those churches. Rarely do we REALLY do what no one else is doing. My church included.
It's our nature to avoid the risk of failure. We get our identities so tied up in our attendance stats that we forget the true mission. This is a great reminder to me to get out on the bleeding edge where Jesus is.
human3rror says
dude. love your last line in this comment. well said.