When I was developing content for my first role as a High School Football and Character Coach, I sketched out 50 separate lessons around the “Be A …, Not A …” concept. With a self-imposed threshold of 1100 words for blog posts (yes, I am aware I often exceed that limit) I estimate I have roughly 10 more blogs to cover them all. This is Part 4 in the series of posts on these lessons. To see Parts 1, 2, and 3, click on the hyperlinks.
Be a tour guide, not a travel agent.
I first heard this great analogy from John Maxwell. Travel agents give us brochures and tell us all about the trip
and sell vacation packages to sites and destinations they oftentimes have not even experienced. Whereas tour guides walk us through the sites and point out the historical and cultural significance. The travel agent is focused on us going, while the tour guide will join us. When we kayak in the Pacific Ocean off the north coast of Oahu, the travel agent will be back in the office selling more vacations, the tour guide will kayak next to us and take our picture.
Great leaders are the ones who’ve been there before and do more than give a “road map.” They are invested in seeing firsthand what is accomplished. Poor leaders give their people direction, without any knowledge or experience in how to get there. We don’t want to be leading people from afar. We want to bring people along with us.
In 1 Corinthians (11:1 and 4:16) as well as Philippians (3:17), St. Paul makes the statements, “be imitators of me.” He is presenting the gospel to them by his life, as well as his word. He is acting as a tour guide. Jesus, the greatest tour guide, is with us to brave whatever challenges may come.
Be the yodel, not the echo.
Judy Garland said, “Be a first-rate version of ourselves, not a second-rate version of someone else.” Think about it, an original is always worth more than a copy. We need to be the voice, not an echo. Echoes bounce back with no added value. They are parroting what they heard. We must stay true to ourselves. Someone else’s world isn’t our world. Living our version is authentic. It is our boat to row. We are people with unique talents and personalities. The distinction is important.
We are each an unrepeatable gift of God. He didn’t create us to be clones or copies, like an echo, adding no value or significance to His kingdom. In 1 Peter 4:10-11, we read “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Be a fountain, not a drain.
To my knowledge, “Be a fountain, not a drain” was first said by former MLB player Rex Hudler quoted in ‘Sports
Illustrated’. If you are not familiar with Rex, here is a great article to learn more about the “fountain” he was.
A fountain continually fills us with a life-nourishing substance. It fills our lives with value and refreshes us. It leaves everyone healthier than they were before and makes the world a better place. A drain depletes our energy and sucks all nourishment from us and leaves us empty and dry. It can leech everyone’s God-given, inherent joy.
A fountain is a ‘giver.’ A leader who balances accountability and realism with a healthy dose of positivity, encouragement, and enthusiasm; not just when things are going well, but even when others are discouraged, stressed, and battling challenges. A drain is a ‘taker.’ A leader who points out what is wrong or will not work, points out why things are worse than they seem, and has a mainly negative outlook.
Be a fountain. Give forth energy to serve. Work to encourage someone who’s having a bad day. Be happy and let that happiness flow. Most healthy corporations, organizations, and churches are full of fountains. The Old Testament is full of references to God being a fountain, in Psalm 36:10, “For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light, we see light” and in Proverbs 10:11, “The mouth of the just is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”
Be a prism, not a mirror.
Light shown at a prism comes out the other side as a rainbow. Light shown at a mirror simply reflects. We can do more than reflect, we must disperse the light shown to us. Adding another color or another perspective allows us to see things in a rich and more complete way.
The prism analogy illustrates the ultimate source of light for humanity, is God. God’s plan works if it flows through us. We can’t just reflect His light – our gifts and talents – like a mirror. We must be a prism. Imagine the light dispersed from our prism hitting additional prisms and dispersing even further. This is how the church and God’s Kingdom grows. It is how we are the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16). The capacity of the prism makes the abstract nature and powers of the Holy Spirit become visible and available.
Let’s understand the magnificence of dispersing light across a spiritual spectrum. Light is to be understood as truth and goodness. To walk in light is to live according to truth. The more the light touches, the more truth is dispersed. In 1 John 1:5-9, we hear the message that God is light and if we walk in the light then we have fellowship with one another.
When presenting these “Be A …, Not A …” lessons, I advise my players that just like running and lifting, we can condition ourselves around mental, social, and spiritual development. The more we practice the better we become. Also, the less we practice, the worse we become. However, this development does not just happen in a gym or controlled environment. It occurs in real life.
The world needs our gifts. The world needs us to be yodels, prisms, and fountains. To be Tour guides as we travel with others. Let’s own our choices. The more we do so, the better we become.
