Attracting More Horses
 
Are you sometimes frustrated by an inability to engage in ministry those who could do the most?  If not, you are by yourself.
 
The people who have the most ability to lead the Great Commission are often those most difficult to get on board.  They seem to want to live their life their way, do their on thing.  Sometimes those are poor soil. Just as often, however, I believe we misread who they are.
 
Very recently I dealt with one of these people, and the experience reminded me of a booklet Jim Furr referred to us, “Shepherding Horses” by Kent Humphries, director of what was Fellowship Of Christian Companies, now called Chirst@Work.  The person I was dealing with was definitely a horse: a powerful person, strong willed, independent, and not easily controlled.  Horses form most of our target, though we gather others in the process.
 
Kent says these people and most organizations have differing characteristics, leading to distrust rather than harmony.  Knowing these characteristics, we can form partnerships rather than frustration.  I will summarize those characteristics:
 
Horses (independent influencers):
 
* They are self sufficient and fearless, and/or will seek to appear so. Say you played Pinehurst, they will say they played Augusta.  Say you work in ministry, they will say they have funded dozens.
 
* They want to control the things they are involved in.
 
* They have been affected by a pagan workplace.  Their values have been compromised in ways in which they may not be aware, but they know they are not what they should be.
 
Organizations:
 
* Have clearly defined missions.
 
* Align resources to accomplish those missions.
 
* Are staffed by people whose self worth is often tied to the accomplishment of those missions.
 
You see how the two will miscommunicate.  We ask a horse to get involved in what we are doing.  He feels inadequate against our spiritual standards, but thinks he can do things better than we can.  He wants to be in control, which we can’t give him.  So he declines involvement but stands on the sidelines and tell us what we should be doing better.  Sound familiar?
 
So, how do we break this cycle and release the incredible ability of the horses among us?  It begins with relationships.  To break a horse, equine or human, one must first earn his or her trust.  One must desire to have a relationship with him simply to have the relationship, communicating no agenda other than to know him.  Then we must communicate that we want to help him achieve his goals.  Only then can we begin to put the bit of submission into the horse’s mouth, leading him to live by faith, and of course even then it is God’s bit and not ours.
 
For those of us who like steps to follow:
1.  Begin a no-agenda relationship.
2.  Affirm their place in the marketplace, and challenge them to a Kingdom vision.
3.  Learn who and what they are, leading them to live by the faith principle in the details of life.
4.  Help them decide how they will carry out their new vision.  If our principles are the right ones they will adopt them.
 
Most of the above fits very well in what we already do day to day. We are a relational organization with a foundation of a Transferable Concepts view of the spiritual life.  Where some of us will adjust to the principles of dealing with horses will be in the way we communicate for whose benefit we are engaging in the relationship.  We may spend less time explaining what we do and more time listening to what they want, less time in the office and more time hanging out.  We may have to become more adept at giving them what they want within the framework of what we do in the Great Commission. 
 
In my conversation with this particular horse, he asked me why he should do a certain ministry thing I had previously asked him to do.  I was beginning to see that his understanding of his own calling was not yet at the point of being able to understand how the action would help him get there. We were not at step 2 above.  So instead of explaining our goals and methods further, I backed off.  I simply asked him to come see another certain thing, something that might help him understand his calling.  I walked away without what I went there for, but maybe I moved a horse closer to God’s corral.  God and time will tell, which is really all I have.   

David