Thursday, November 17, 2011

Ninja Fish of Explosive Proportions

Albert Einstein - Brilliant Dude
 “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Albert Einstein once stated, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." When I read that, I realized that this thought has a ton of implications in the life of a church. 

I often fall into the mistake of judging a persons ability to serve God on how well they can speak, or lead, or sing, or organize, or "insert cliché church activity here". I have realized that at Audacity Church in Wichita, KS you can be a fish, a duck, a monkey, or a friggin lion and it would have no influence on whether or not you could be a Hero at Audacity(Hero (n): someone who acts heroically; a person of noble quality; one that uses personal ability to help others) . 

I am learning that everyone has unique qualities and talents that can all be used to worship God. We have a person who loves facebook so they make facebook events so we can market with social media. We have a man that has a truck so he pulls our trailer full of equipment. We have a girl that takes pictures so she documents our events for our website. We have a man that has years of military experience that guards the kids area to keep them safe. 

Not everyone sings. Not everyone enjoys speaking. But everyone enjoys knowing they can worship God with the talents that He already gave them. I think Church might not be about a pastor ministering to the people, but rather, about the people ministering to each other under the guidance of a pastor.  A pastor cannot reach everyone but an entire Church of ministers has UNLIMITED potential! 

If you are a fish, you are a genius swimmer. If you are a monkey, you are a brilliant tree climber. If you are a lion, lets hear your awesome roar. Whatever God made you good at, do that and let your talent worship your God. 

I would love to get some feedback on this: What abilities do you have that you might not have thought God could use? Do you know anyone or have you ever been judged by your ability to do something you were never designed to do?

4 comments:

  1. I think I can make a pretty good case that taking out the trash isn't my gift, but that's never kept anyone from giving me the opportunity to prove me wrong :-) Also, kudos to the military guy who protects the kids area - I'm gonna have to use that as another one of my selling points for teaching kids sunday school!

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  2. Thanks for the comment Nathan! The guy that watches the kids is one bad dude and we are lucky to have him.

    Some people may argue that they are not gifted at taking out the trash, but the real gift is in serving others. I dare say that is a gift that Jesus emulated more than most. As such, it is a VERY desirable gift to cultivate. Ergo, taking out the trash is one more way that we can be a little more like Christ.

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  3. I really like the Einstein quote. I'd never heard that. So true!

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  4. Thanks Laura! I heard a guy talking about it the other day and it really grabbed my ear.

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