August 20, 2018

Weekly Reflection – Home Depot Leadership

Home Depot Leadership: There is a large “chain” of stores in America that specializes in the sale of tools for maintaining and improving the home and garden. It is called the Home Depot. At any of its outlets you can find gardening equipment, paint, appliances and appliance repair items, fertilizer, plants, etc.  In other words,  one can find just about anything needed for “do it yourself  (DIY)” projects.

For example, this past week I purchased a sprinkler head to replace the one I had run over with my lawn mower. Today I hope to obtain some “wasp-be-gone” to fight the insects that seem to love our shrubs. A few weeks ago we bought a refrigerator for our new home.  And so it goes.

Of course there are also individuals at the Home Depot who are there to assist you in finding the item you are looking for or to give advice on whatever your problem is. They not only tell you where an item is but they personally walk you over to it. I find it especially comforting to believe there is someone there who can guide me through the process of clarifying the problem, identifying what is needed to fix it and then helping me actually find the needed repair item.

Yesterday, I heard a sermon in which the preacher compared church leaders to these helpers at the Home Depot. Church leaders (and for that matter all Christians) are equipped with a large inventory of spiritual tools.  Like the Home Depot staff, they are charged with helping others clarify the problems of life, identify a path forward and then walk alongside to resolve whatever issue is at hand.

Not anyone can be an especially effective helper in this regard. At the Home Depot the most effective helpers are usually those who come with a lifetime of experience. They know a lot because they have seen a lot.  And they have probably learned a lot the hard way, through their own mistakes. In addition, they have been trained to know where any of the thousands of repair items can be found. This Home Depot model seems to be true for Christian leaders as well.

When you (or I) have a problem in our Christian walk we tend to seek out an older, seasoned person who might have been through something similar in his or her life. That is why most “church elders” are older in age. They know what works and what does not work. And they have had plenty of time to practice using the tools.  On top of that they have probably spent years studying the “operating manual” of life that we call the Bible.

So if you are a Christian leader it might be wise to consider the Home Depot. Learn from experience. Know where the tools are located. Study the “operating manual.”  And then you will be so very effective in helping those who walk into your life with problems to solve. You see, DIY is not always DIY. Rather, it is more akin to “doing it with others”

Blessings and peace,

Chaplain Allen
chaplain@nationsu.edu
chaplainscorner.org

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