A little over a week ago, I sat in my very first Hall Devo. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what came next! When I arrived, I was told that we would be playing a game. We were divided up into groups of three or four and given a handful of uncooked spaghetti, some gummy lifesavers, and a little pile of gumdrops. Without words, grunts, or gestures, we were supposed to work together as a team to build some kind of freestanding structure out of these items.
It was an interesting game; when we started out, every member of my team started building on their own. The ideas were very different! I was making triangles out of spaghetti and gumdrops and putting them together to build a pyramid. I knew that a triangle would make the structure strongest, so I focused on building a wide base.
Meanwhile, the other two girls' structures kept falling over. Eventually, they caught on to what I was doing and began adding their own creative design to my simple but sturdy structure. In the end, it looked something like a circus tent from Candy Land. It seemed to be a completely random game, but of course there was a point to all the silliness.
The topic of our devo was communication, and through that somewhat ridiculous activity I learned something about my leadership/communication style. I am an Establisher--that is, I like to get down to people's hearts and build strong lives from there. I don't frequently get up in people's faces (unless they are really persistent in doing what is wrong); instead, I quietly try to direct them by setting a good example or pointing out other good examples.
This is a classic demonstration of the way we are all called to be leaders. Not everyone is called to preach or teach or be a missionary, this is true. But we are all called to be witnesses and representatives of Christ in the way we live our lives:
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
-Matthew 5:16
Sometimes people are not open to the things we have to say until they've seen them in action. Someone can tell you how you ought to do something a million times, but until you've actually been shown how to do it, it is nearly impossible to conceive of it. And it's hard to believe in someone's words when their actions are clearly in opposition to what they've been saying. We have to be careful of what we say, yes, but we have to be even more careful of the things we communicate without saying a word.
"Therefore I urge you to imitate me."
-1 Corinthians 4:16
Paul made that statement boldly. He was confident in his relationship with you, and so he could say without reservations that anyone who wanted to know how to follow Christ ought to look to him as an example. I want to be able to make this statement of Paul's; I want to become a leader that people can trust and look to as an example. I want to be confident in my relationship with God, so that I can confidently lead others into a right relationship with God.
...And I learned all of this from spaghetti and gumdrops...
