Is there anything a grave marker can teach us about evangelism and love?

The answer is “a lot.” Take a look at the stone below that stands over the grave of Cameron Townsend, the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Cam’s final message to his followers includes two exhortations. First, “By love serve one another.” Second, “Finish the task.” Notice that serving one another by love comes first and the task second. The order is deliberate, instructive, and biblically accurate. The great task of Bible translation is carried out by the community of believers who love one another.

There is always a temptation to put practical results first, to make “getting the job done” the first priority and then to fit in love for one another when there is time or opportunity. The problem with this approach is that loving one another gets squeezed out in the rush to catch the next flight, to get to the next appointment, to take the next phone call, to answer the next email, and–well–very simply to do “the next thing.”

Commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission can turn into this kind of high-pressured race. Let potential followers who want to gather together for fellowship go elsewhere. We “signed up” to do evangelism and the Great Commission not to love one another. This can even turn into a suspicion of taking time to love one another as if loving one another could become the enemy of the Great Commission.

Love is the hallmark
of authentic evangelism.

In reality the reverse is true. Love is the origin and energy that motivates the Great Commission. God did not take the initiative to reach out to fallen sinners because it was the next item on His divine “to do” list. It was because while we were sinners he loved us (Romans 5.8). It was his “great love” Because of his “great love” with which he loved us, he has made us alive with Christ. The sign for us that we have been saved is that “we love our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3.14). The implication is clear: if you don’t feel great love for the fellow believers around you, then you have little reason to be assured that you are truly in Christ.

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What does it take to be an extraordinarily effective organization? This is the perennial leadership question. There is something different about some organizations, something that helps them outperform others and even exceed their own goals.

In his book, Building the Bridge As You Walk On it, Robert Quinn says that these “extraordinarily positive” organizations can be called highly “productive communities.” In these communities, people find that they can contribute and excel.

What makes highly productive communities different?

During a visit to one extraordinary organization, a group of managers described the impact of several extraordinary people. These were people who had influenced the organization very significantly. They had inspired others to achieve at higher-than-dreamed levels.

“So what do they do?” the researcher asked. Quinn says that there was a long silence. Finally one director said, “That’s the wrong question.”

I like that. To ask first about what they do is to ask the wrong question. That question points us to look for behaviors, techniques, practices, and habits. It’s the dream of everyone concerned about leadership. “Tell me what I need to do!” We want the three-point short-list, the seven-part formula, the 21 irrefutable keys to successful leadership. If we could only find out what these extraordinary people do we could then capture it, teach it, and through imitation gain that same performance advantage for ourselves.

If only!

But if the answer is not what they do, then what is it? Quinn continues the story. After the long pause the director said, “It is not what they do, because each one of them is unique in how they pull it off. It is not about what they do; it is about who they are.”

It’s not what they do.
It’s who they are!

Don’t miss that point! The key to developing and sustaining positive and productive communities lies within. It’s a matter of heart and character, integrity and soul. Organizational excellence tends not to be a function of imitation, Quinn tells us. It’s a function of “origination” that begins within the hearts and minds of people who have a deep inner sense of purpose, integrity, and caring. Read More