Depending On Others

If you never realized it before, try planting a church and you'll discover real quick how much you need to depend on others. And not just people you like or even know. You have to depend on designers to get you a proof so you can turn around and depend on a printer to print it in time so they can hand it off to a delivery company that you depend on to get it to you at the promised time. I say that because we have invite cards for our next series that were supposed to be here and when they finally came, there were only 250 instead of 2500. Small problem.

Let's get more practical. If you drive, you depend on the people in oncoming traffic to stay on their side of the road, and if you go to work, you depend on your boss/company to pay you for what you do. If you're married you depend on your spouse to be faithful and if you have kids you depend on them to not kill you in your sleep. I just put that last one there to make sure you're not sleeping while you read this.

It's happens everywhere. We depend on others. If you don't know how to fix something or build something, you hire someone that you depend on to do it. In church work, this is even more pronounced. Now that Claude is full-time, I'm depending on him to make most of the props and stuff for the Price Is Right (even though I love building stuff, I haven't hardly been over there) I depend on his wife Sheila to keep our database up to date and give me names, phone numbers and addresses. And I'm depending on Brad to do most of the video work and a lot of the graphic stuff. I depend on Davey to plan and coordinate the worship music and atmosphere. I depend on Jim (who doesn't even live here yet) to produce the Outlet materials and leader guides each week. I need to depend on Kim to make sure we have coffee, donuts and other goodies on Sunday. Derick and Amy make sure anyone who shows up sees a smiling and welcoming face first thing at Discovery. I depend on all kinds of people to help with set-up or tear down each week.

In other words, there is no reason that people should think that the pastor does or should know everything. It's because there is no way that the pastor could ever do everything. If it wasn't for other people stepping in and stepping up, Discovery Church would not exist. I might be the face that people associate with Discovery, but I'm not the one that we depend on. It's all these other people that make Discovery what it is.

So don't forget, you're not nearly as important as you think you are (and neither am I). Who do you depend on and what for?