Lead Like Joe

I love people. One of the most influential people I have ever met is a guy named Joe. Joe worked with this team of young adults who traveled around to college campuses speaking to students about what God is doing in the world and encouraging us to pray about being part of it. I decided to arrange a meeting with Joe because I thought it sounded interesting and I had always desired to do something like this. We talked about opportunities, studied some scripture and somehow I found myself in Malaysia for three months the next summer.

I would like to say that Joe had this profound methodology of recruiting for service opportunities, but he didn’t. Joe simply identified with the task and identified with me. Guys like Joe are successful because they realize that we live in a low-touch world that yearns for identification, respect and dignity. I am amazed that even more so in many of our Christian circles, people are simply not identified with. Often, instead of embracing people and giving them value because they are created in the image of God, individuals are relegated to a position, title, worker or potential volunteer. I am quick to pigeon hole someone into a responsibility with little thought given to identification with them.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending an emerging leader’s event in Washington D.C. and recognized a girl from the same team who visited my college during my sophomore year in 2000. I asked her about Joe, to only find out he was at this same event. Later that afternoon, Joe walked around the corner, called me by name, and remembered my major and my plans to go to Malaysia. Some 7 years later this guy was still seeking to give me value, respect and dignity.

I can’t help but believe our ministries, churches and organizations will only grow as we seek to identify more. As a young adult, I desire for a body of believers to not only resonate with what I am passionate about in the world, but also to identify with me in this stage of my life. In the same way I seek to identify with my community of believers and join them in identifying with the rest of the world.

I am grateful that Joe did not simply spend time encouraging me to be more missional because he had a certain quota that he had to reach on the campus. Rather, he heard my story, identified with my interests, answered my questions and encouraged me in an area that I knew little about. I want to be a part of a community with fewer people who pretend to have all the answers and more people who identify with you along the journey. Thanks, Joe!