teach

The third of my top talent sounds a bit more like what you'd expect in a list of talents ... I'm strategic. The basic gist of this is that, where other see complexity, I can see patterns. As a result, I'm able to play out a variety possible scenarios and determine what route is best for a group to take. Similarly, I'm able to look ahead, see potential obstacles, and avert them.

However, while the idea of strategic sounds more like what you'd expect on a talent list, I can't help but see it in light of the first two, connectedness and ideation. After all, connectedness means I see the big picture, ideation helps me understand how the elements of the picture connect, and strategic helps me figure out where to go next.

The other thing that strikes me is that all of these talents (and the two I've yet to explore) are all very cerebral and abstract, which explains why, with the exception of the elemental life and other projects that require a study, think, tell approach, if left to my own devices, I rarely get anything done. On the positive side, this is good for ministry when it comes to preaching and teaching, as well as things like writing.

In addition, I could excel in a setting where I cast vision, assuming I have a team of people behind me who are gifted in ways that they can take my abstract thoughts and make them reality. Feeding from this, how do you see your talents working in concert with others?

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Ideation is another one of those talents that sounds a bit odd, but, especially when considered in light of how it weaves together with connectedness, it makes more sense. According to the folks at Strengths Finder, among other things, "an idea is a connection" and my mind is "intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection."

So, if, as my connectedness talent suggests, I see everything in systems, then it's the ideation that help me connect all of the pieces of the system together and understand, in a rather simple way, the very complex process that's in place. It's what allows me to look at things from a variety of different perspectives. The folks at Strengths Finder say that this is why people label me as "creative or original or conceptual or even smart."

Outside of the areas I already identified with connectedness, I'm not really sure how else ideation proves helpful. They just seem so intertwined to me. Perhaps it's not just knowing that we're connected but seeing it, and thus having an ability to explain to others? I know this has been a regular occurrence in preaching and teaching, where somehow I can just link things together for people in ways that others haven't.

Anyone out there an ideation person without being a connectedness person? How do they separate in your life?

The question came up in my comments on "don't do" evangelism about how should we go about doing evangelism. I figured I should offer a few thoughts over the next couple days looking at what the Bible does say about evangelism.

I'd say, when asked about a great evangelism text, most Christians would point to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 which reads: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Now, I do agree that this is an evangelism text, however, I disagree that it tells us to do random "on the street type" evangelism, a belief I hold because of the grammatical structure of Christ's words.

Most people I know who are pro-random evangelism are huge on the word, "go" and they assume Christ is commanding his disciples (and us) to do just that. However, the original language tells us this is not the case. There is a command word, but it's not "go". Rather, Christ's command is to "make disciples" by means of "baptizing and teaching".

"Go" is just a participle which means it carries the forces of, "while you go" or "in your going". To paint a clearer picture, Christ and his disciples are up on this mountain and Jesus is getting ready to ascend into heaven. Before he does, he gives them one final bit of instruction on what they are to do once he's gone. Maybe he hoping to avoid the Acts 1 deal where they all stand there staring up into space, but he tells them that they have to leave the mountain and return to their lives. However as they do this, as they go, they are to "make disciples".

I think it's also important to notice how they go about doing the disciple making ... baptizing and teaching. Moreover, it's teaching everything that Christ commanded, something that's not going to happen on a street corner and something you won't be able to see happen with somebody you only know for 15 minutes. In other words, evangelism and discipleship have a relational element to them.