Make The Ask |
Nov 10, 2009 |
I made the call yesterday, just like I did last Monday, just like I will next Monday.
I plan to call Roger every Monday to make The Ask.
Not that Ask. A different one. A better one. A Kingdom one.
The Ask: “Roger, how are you doing today?”
Because of cancer my friend Roger has two months to live.
Making the call sounds easy (and it should be) but it isn’t. Mondays are always very busy with work as I look to the week ahead, lay out my strategy, and begin digging in. In many ways on many Mondays, I feel like I don’t have the time. But I’ve come to believe that I need to make the time, for Roger and for others.
Consider this…
A ministry leader sits down and thanks the Board for being in attendance. A prayer is prayed and two hours later business for the evening is concluded and everyone goes their own way.
Here’s what really happened.
A ministry leader sits down and thanks the Board for being in attendance. A prayer is prayed and, for two hours while business is being conducted, one Board member sits in his seat dying on the inside because his teenage son has a drug problem and is flunking out of school. Business for the night is concluded and everyone goes their own way.
It happens all the time but it should never happen. Not inside the Kingdom.
I heard a leader share a while back about a new commitment he’s made. Before every meeting he plans to make The Ask. Before the Board meets the Board is going to meet. They’re going to connect with one another, fellowship with one another, update one another, pray for one another, and then meet for the secondary business.
Often in ministry we get so busy and so wrapped up in our own agendas that we forget what ministry is (and what Jesus was) truly all about: People.
I love this quote from Pastor Rick Warren:
“Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love – God and people. Life minus love equals zero.”
I know this. You and I have people all around us who are hurting. And some of them may be sitting right beside us in leadership.
Make the time. Make the call. Make The Ask.
