Why are CEO's ushers?

I have a friend named Jonathan Byrd. He's a great story and a long one but suffice it to say he was a businessman par excellance. He owned Americas's largest cafeteria in Indy and hotels galore in West Phoenix. He also was an astonishing giver to Colleges and Christian Schools and causes he was passionate about. Some say he raised over a billion dollars for Christian ministries in his day.

Imagine being his pastor.

Guys like Jonathan and other businessmen sometimes just don't fit in most churches. Why, his tithe is bigger than the budget of small to medium sized churches. Anything he did in ministry was bigger than the whole missions mind of a city much less a church. You ever heard of a church that raised a billion for missions? A denomination? To me Jonanthan is a metaphor of the potential of some people in the church.

Is it his fault he doesn't fit... or our ours?

Imagine having Jonathan be a usher in your church? Hand out bulletins? Park cars? Or would he be a deacon going to meetings to fuss about whether or not to repaint the bathroom this year? Helloow... he raised a billion dollars!

I believe the town would be set on fire if we let the Jonathan's loose.

Imagine if people of his capacity to fund raise and problem solve and organize resources and network and market were released by their pastors to solve big problems, to take their leadership giftedness which is much greater than their pastors and go for it!

Ezra (pastor) had Nehemiah (civic man). Together they changed the fabric of the communinity. But make no doubt about it. Ezra was no Nehemiah. And I'm no Jonathan Byrd. He's got more leadership gifting in his pinky than I'll ever have. What's my job? Let him go. Let him dream, let him be creative, let him solve problems, do things bigger than our organization, or any church, let him lead and I'll follow.

The job of the spiritual leader is to release people, not stifle them, let them live up to their astonishing potential, not give them self-serving jobs to make us look good. News flash... my organization is never gonna be bigger than me... I am the bottleneck.

The Jonathan's of the world have to be able to relate to me and be loved and cared for by me without me stifling them. Just cheer 'em on. Jonathan was gonna change the world with me or without me. Why not go along for the ride? You probably can't figure out what they should do. But they can. Let 'em go.

And whatever you do... don't give 'em the bulletins.

BC