While reading Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers something occurred to me. When Prescott first began sending out churches, most of that first wave of churches took off and grew fast. But, by the time I was saved and felt called to go, the wave of early growth seemed to have leveled off. A few guys did very well, some guys survived and stayed in the ministry, but some of us ended up back in our mother churches, feeling like failures. It took me twenty years of trying and failing before I could face the music and go home to Prescott.
But Gladwell's book made me wonder if there was a matrix or some evidence that we did not take into consideration. We seemed to employ the Peter Principal, promoting men to their level of incompetency. To pastor Mitchell's credit, he did his best to accommodate men's calling and gifting and he did all that he could do to help a man find his way in God's will.
Outliers made me feel at ease in the sense that I am not to blame for powers and giftings beyond my control. If it was just clean living and hard work, all of churches would be larger and more influential.
"...the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all." Eccl. 9:11
"A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." Prov. 18:16
If your gifting is not making room for you or giving you influence, maybe you need to rethink your place and be content where you are.
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