One thing that I have been searching for with my time back in the States is wisdom. I have all these ideas and dreams, but I still have so much to learn and I just never want to get away from the student mentality. I have been spending some time with a friend of mine from the World Race, Warren Cheely, and he has really pushed me a lot in this area. He asks me some tough questions instead of just listening, and in his personal life, he really pushes me into deeper humility and just checking my pride. I was able to spend the morning with him, but then he invited me into one of his “round table think tank” discussions with some leaders in his home church.
After Warren and I spent a couple of hours talking through accountability, it was time to seek the wisdom of some men that were a stage or two ahead of him and hear their thoughts on his “next step” opportunities and upcoming marriage. I always thought this was a good idea, but never really practiced it. JP was one of the three guys he called in, along with Wes and Scott, and I could see why. He is the young adult pastor at Watermark and after hearing him speak the night before, I knew he had some strong words to speak into Warren’s life and I was happy to tag along. I found out JP has two little girls and a wife of six years and has a lot of life wisdom to share on marriage and ministry.
Honestly, I went there to be a fly on the wall for Warren, but ended up feeling like I needed to be the one taking notes. These three men just affirmed what Warren was feeling lead too, but also brought some caution to the table that I never even imagined. I mean, I hear marriage, especially that first year, is tough but I don’t have any stories or experience to back that. I caught myself thinking about my own life and started thinking about how I would respond and what I would do in this stance. As “right” as I see myself sometimes, and as driven as I would be to jump right into this next life stage, their wisdom sank in.
One thing I’ve noticed with my generation is this thought process that we have it right and any learning we need can come on the battlefield. Since I’m a “doer” I still hold pretty much to this, but today I was able to see the HUGE benefit people can bring that have gone before us. Truth is, I’m not these three men and I’m not going to make every decision they would, but I can’t even express how valuable it was to sit in their presence and hear this wisdom coming from men that have been there.
Back to JP for one more thing. He’s in charge of a young adults ministry that brings in well over 1000 people weekly. I could tell he was a busy man with his family and this huge ministry, but it’s times like today when you find out what these guys are truly about. No microphones. No stages. An audience of two. In the midst of that, I honestly felt like this was a high priority conversation. I felt that from the other two men as well, Wes and Scott, but I just didn’t get to hear as much about them.
So question for today; where can you seek wisdom in an area that you’re currently relying on your own ideas? Use discernment, but seeking counsel is a huge point of the scriptures that we too often neglect. I’m sure pride has a little to do with that…
