The Gift of Helps

OK, I like to listen to Tony Campolo's podcast 'Across the Pond', I think this man is very inspirational, and whilst I don't always agree with his stance on certain topics (or maybe i am not intelligent to understand his stance on them all), he does have a very deep understanding and wisdom of Scripture that reaches me.

As it was just now, when he was talking about when he was a young Preacher of 22/23 and working two parishes - he wanted to be (and became) totally in control of everything that went on in those Churches.

From running the Youth Groups to picking out the colour of the carpets. Everything.

What he realises now is that he was actually denying others within those Church communities any chance to grow and flourish by allowing them to take on some of the responsibilities and control of different things. And by doing that, albeit maybe not full-knowingly, he was actually oppressing and suppressing any chance of creativity to come through other peoples ideas and Helps.

He quotes loosely from Corinthians 12, "to some is given the gifts of preaching : to some is given the gifts of teaching : some the gifts of healing : and to some, the gift of Helps".

I have a feeling that, for a time those 2 churches he ran were pretty much well sorted. Clockwork. Everything done just so and he got a tremendous sense of working flat out for God and that was the right thing to do, took all the praise and wallowed in it. We all like to be praised when we think we are doing good work after all, no?

Enlightening though now, in his later years he regrets this top-down led approach and thinks of those who he could have allowed to bring forth their talents more, and wishes he had had the insight back then to offer up some of this control, share it out. Power. Control. Not things I crave at all. I hope. But sometimes these feckle things are thrust upon us - in our family lives, in our work, in our communities. The challenge then is how we use this control / power. or misuse or abuse it.

Share it. Give it up. Allow, not decide. I am sure this can be very tough for some to do - they may fear the consequences of letting someone else go and fuck up all the pretty neat arrangements that they have spent an age creating.

But I am a firm believer that sometimes you just got to chuck all the pieces as high as you can into the air and see how they fall.

Rebuilding and re-organising can be lots of fun :)