The Law if Indispensability

For the past twenty four hours I have been mauling over a word that I honestly feel that the Lord has given me to share.  Well, there are lots of words that I feel that he gives me that I could share, but this one in particular really floored me because it empowered me and made me feel invincible.  Don’t worry, I am not going to test that =)

So the word that I got was this, “the law of indispensability.”  What does that mean, might you ask?  Well I am glad you asked!  Basically what it means is that if something is valuable or irreplaceable, someone will not dispose of it because it is needed to the point where something does not function properly without it.

So how does that relate to us?  Most of their days, people spend feeling as if they are a cog in the system… nothing less nothing more.  With the job market as it is, people feel disposable.  In relationships, many people are bracing for the day that they are dumped for someone else.  In families, people feel used and under appreciated.  Why is this?  Because people don’t realize that they are special so they do not feel special.

Now the question that I have to ask is, “what are you doing about it?”  “WHAT?  DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?”  You might ask.  Yes.  Do something about it.  The fact of the matter is that much of the self-worth problems that people have are due to the fact that the individual is allowing what is happening to them to happen to them.  So what I am saying today is embrace the fact that you are special and actively live it out!

You might be thinking, “okay Jason, that’s great, but how?”  The cool thing about Jesus was that he made himself indispensible.  Yes, there were other miracle workers out there, but whose glory did they work for?  Their own.  Jesus focused on not just healing people, but forgiving them their sins and taught like no other teacher, which attracted most people (except some of the Pharisees).  How many other people do you read about that both claimed to be the Messiah and actually delivered?  None. 

He became indispensible because of his love, his passion, his commitment to his father, the commitment to truth, his commitment to the mission, and the commitment to those around him.  He cared about those around him, and he was different than the other Rabbis.  He did not suppress people with rules and heavy-handed behavior, instead he loved them… which was not always received well, but most of those close to him would die for him in the end.  He took a risk, stood out from the crowd, and met people’s needs, and he became irreplaceable.

So again, how do we become indispensible?  Here are some suggestions that I am pursuing and hopefully it will inspire you…

-Take on some roles at work that will bring a new dimension

-Take the time to honestly love someone and coach them through a tough time

-Become an expert in something important, and learn to love to share what you have learned.

-Take your hobby a step further and explore using your gifts and interests for something greater than staying in the four walls of your home.

-Stay late to help out

-Do an unexpected favor for a friend “just because”

-Honestly compliment someone on something that you admire about them

-Weaken a tense moment and bring clarity

-Send an encouraging handwritten note or email

-Share a word of wisdom from your past that could improve someone’s future

I want to challenge you to do one of the ten things I mentioned above.  Whether it is at work, at school, in a relationship, a friendship, or at church, these are things that people are not used to.  I found that many of them just take a little bit of effort, but they go a long way.

Imagine if we lived our lives as Christians as being indispensible?  The love of Christ would be infectious and erase the centuries of bad taste in people’s mouths.  I’ll admit, I have given Christians a bad name in the past.  But the cool thing is that just because I made a mistake in the past that does not stop me from impacting people in the future.  This is what we need to remember and why we need to seek Christ daily so that we can impact people in our world, not for our own glory, but for Gods.

My hope is that when you think about your life and say, “oh my gosh, when this (job, friendship, ministry, etc.) crashes and burns…” you can stop yourself.  Instead of thinking negatively, you will realize that you not only have value to God, but to others and you can honestly say, “No.  It won’t end bad… I am safe because I am indispensible.”