Value in the Tiny Spec
Right off the bat, I got excited about this book. I have seen the beauty and the hand of God with marginalized people. I have gotten to know houseless people and have worked with people with addictions and alcoholism. As some of you know (because I am not shy), I lived inside prison walls for three years with some fantastic guys who had just gotten caught up with the lures of the world. They will share their dreams and desires with you when they are sober and clear-headed. They are no different than anyone else, trying to survive some trauma in life and making the wrong choice.
God sees people’s beauty and hopes and wants to refine them into something beautiful. They can take the life experiences that they have, unique ones, and welcome the refinement that God is putting them through to become effective tools to help and lead others. God takes the rough edges of our lives and sees the diamond that is inside of us – if we are willing to accept the love that is freely given.
This is why I am so excited about my project of helping people overcome their addictions, being open to what God sees in them, and following her lead. (as you get to know me, you will see that I rarely call God “he” – it is either “her” or “ze”). They need to believe in others who believe in them because they may not have the capacity to do so.
We, as a church, can and should help take the marginalized and walk with them, coaching and mentoring them to be leaders and functioning members of society. On page 151, Camacho writes, “Whatever difficult circumstance we have endured, God knows where we are and has allowed us to be there. This is a challenging truth that can set us free. Our pain is not random. God did not leave us and he is not trifling with us.”
How dare we question that?
I know this is a book on leadership, and I look forward to going back to my ways of the past and reading it word for word, but I see so much more in it than just leadership. It goes deeper into the needs of the church to help refine each one of us. Not just the houseless, the alcoholics, or the ex-felons. It is the men and women who have a gift that everyone can see but them and help them build upon that. Prior to getting married, one of our friends took us to a Color Me Mine store as an engagement present. I picked a large bowl and painted some fruit. I still think it was average, but my wife, who is an amazing artist, keeps talking about it 20 years later, telling me what talent I have and how I should be feeding this talent. It is the same in a church – whether coming alongside a small group leader who is hesitant or a struggling pastor who is in doubt. We, as leaders, need to find the gold in others to help them see what God’s desires are for them.
I want to develop a program (I don’t know exactly what it looks like yet!) that emphasizes spiritual transformation in recovery. Let God do the work in others if they are willing. Let the Holy Spirit show others how to live in their sweet spot (pg. 136) and bear fruit – not only for themselves and their family but for the church and community itself by remaining sober and discovering the rich vein of gold that God has created for them. I am hoping to teach other leaders how to help people in sobriety discover the richness that God has in store for them and never look back.
Spiritual transformation led by a person who is trained properly in helping others find their “sweet spot” will give people in recovery hope. To walk a new path of discovering their passions, how they are wired, and where they can bear fruit for others would be the goal of my project.
The deeper a person in recovery goes and sees what God has done for them and what God has planned for them, the easier it will be when the hard times come. They will come, they will for all of us. How deep the roots that were created by God, the Holy Spirit, and the people who have come around them and walked with them will determine how they get through without too many scratches.
There are a lot of similarities in the coaching and mentoring discussed in this book, as well as a “sponsor” from one of the recovery programs. Everyone is taught to listen to their sponsor and do everything that he or she says because they have been there before. Jesus has been there before. Spiritual transformation is the key to all this and one I hope to unlock in my project.
About the Author
Chris Blackman
13 responses to “Value in the Tiny Spec”
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Chris,
I can see there is much depth to this topic for you and it seems as if you have barely scratched the surface on what coaching might look like in your life. I am reminded that we all come into this program with a life lived. None of us are teenagers and all of us have had some bumps and bruises along the way that brought us to this point.
As I read a bit about your project I am wondering if you have heard of a program called Damascus Way? It is based here in my city of Rochester and they are doing a Christ-centered rehab for men. They are a cousin organization to the one I work for. Here is the website if you want to check them out: https://damascusway.com/
You mentioned the idea of having a “sponsor”. I wonder how you see having a sponsor as similar to coaching and in what ways in might be different?
WOW!! thank you for sharing the Damascus way website. I love what they are doing – it touches all the things that are close to my heart!! I will plan a trip there this summer to learn more. Thank you!!!
Your coaching/sponsor question is a good one. When a person comes into AA or any of the “A” programs, they are about as beat up as one can get. They don’t make good decisions, have no hope, and can barely get one foot in front of the other. Where they do find hope is to listen to the stories when people share in meetings. They see that the speaker has been in their shoes and are now thriving. After hearing enough of those stories, they realize they can have the same thing if they want it. That is where the sponsor comes in. Like coaching, it is the personal and communal approach. They know their way because they have been there and have enough wisdom to help others find their way out. They have been trained in the steps and know that is the key. (now my opinion is spiritual transformation is the key, but that is a different story!!). A coach has been trained to walk alongside others. That is the similarities. I am not able to think of a difference between the two, but I will be chewing on that. The one big difference all the way around is that if one doesn’t listen to their coach, they won’t become much of a leader. If they don’t listen to their sponsor, they will probably die. Thanks for asking.
Feel free to reach out if you need a place to stay if you are visiting Damascus Way.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I love watching you integrate this text into what you are reading and learning, as well as your passion and calling. You are modeling that operation in ‘the sweet spot’ so well.
You also bring a great perspective on this idea of coach vs. mentor vs. sponsor and the similarities and differences between them. I’d love for you to elaborate more and those similarities and differences from your perspective!
Thanks again!
LOL, thank you Ryan!! I appreciate the kind words. I guess instead of copying and pasting, Adam asked me the same exact question, so may I politely ask you to read my response to him? I will be thinking more about this, especially since two of you asked the same question!!
Thanks!!!
Hey Chris! You have a testimony worth telling. Your post has several nuggets. The one that rings close to home is our responsibility as the church to help others reach their full potential. I have watched ministries see individuals and make it their priority to exclude rather than include them. There is a lot of unrefined potential who come through our doors weekly and your post serves as a reminder to keep the main thing- the main thing! Your post not only resonated me but now causes me to be reflective.
Thank you Daren. I have seen and heard way too many instances of church exclusion, and that grieves me (think what it does to Jesus!). Nancy and I were part of a church plant in downtown Los Angeles 15 years ago or so, and a large portion of attendees were people who lived in missions or on the streets. It was both messy and beautiful at the same time. But one thing we both experienced was watching people on one of the missions graduate from the program and become an integral part of the church and the church family. We welcomed each and every one of them in – no matter what. It was a great 5 years for us both until we both got burned out, but that is another post to come! Lol. Thanks for your response! Looking forward to getting to know you better.
Chris, bless you for working with the marginalized. I appreciate your perspectives how the church needs to walk alongside them, looking for the gold that is hidden by some scars they received in life along the way. We do need to help them not just function in society, but some of them can be developed into leaders. What that leadership looks like is up to God. I just talked to my UPS driver today as he dropped off a package. His brother has struggled with alcohol addiction and due to a DUI and car accident was forced into rehab. My UPS driver is very hopeful for his brother and has sacrificed some comforts in his own life to assist him. If only we as the church can offer the same hope and sacrifice to those struggling maybe the streets would be lined with gold here on earth.
Thank you Jeff for your reply. As I just wrote about to Daren, my wife and I came from a beautiful church that was very welcoming to struggling people. Sadly, not many churches would be very inviting to the people who walked through our doors. It was really messy at times, and put many of us outside of our comfort zones, but what it did do was create an amazing community of caring for each other. I wish all churches would be open to the marginalized but too many forget who Jesus was. 🙁
Chris,
I love your post! I’m reminded of the section titled “The Holy Spirit does the work of refining” in Mining for Gold. Sobriety is a journey or wins and losses, and if you carry the weight of ‘success’ for someone walking through recovery, I imagine the weight of the burden would be crushing.
What have been your learnings of relying on the Holy Spirit vs. carrying the weight yourself as you’ve walked with people through both dark moments and victories?
Thank you, Christy! Just today I realized the connection between this book- coaching/sponsorship and spiritual direction, which is all about being led by the Spirit. The leading and promptings of the Spirit seem to be a much easier way to do all this and it is one that I will be pondering while I do my project.
The sad part, but the reality is that people in recovery are pretty realistic about what happens to the people who fall away from the program, or “slip” after being sober for a while. It might sound callous, but we always said they aren’t done yet and need to go back out and get beat up so they can come back and have victory. It happens all the time, and you do get callous to it. You are sad for them, but when you know that they need to hit rock bottom and aren’t there yet, you live in the hope that they will return before they die in it. Biblically, in my opinion, is that it is close to 1 Cor 5:5: “Hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that t his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” Paul wants people to go back into the world so they can see the errors of their ways and return to the church in a much healthier way. Kind of the same thought pattern.
Thanks for your question and response!
Chris, what a pleasure and privilege it was to read this! My heart was warm the entire way through. I am so excited about what you’re building and can see how you are truly allowing God to lead the way.
One thing that stood out for me from your writing was the importance of “willingness.” You said it a couple times and I think in life but especially when dealing with sobriety, that part is key. We can only change when we are open and willing to admit that we are nothing without God and surrender to whatever the Spirit wants to do in/through us.
I’ll be looking forward to following along and seeing how your project unfolds!
Thank you Akwése for the kind words! The deeper I get into this myself. the more excited I get too!!
You are correct. Willingness is the ONLY way to become sober. All of this started for me in the book “Interior Castle” by Teresa of Avila. She speaks of the begining of a Christian journey as entering an interior room of a castle (the castle represents the soul) and how the lures of the world are outside of the castle walls. The person entering that room still has desires to be outside of the safe walls, but is trying to decide if he or she wants to go further into the safety and light of the castle (hope that makes sense). It is a choice. IT is hard when you walk into an AA room. All of your friends are drunks or drug addicts and its what you know. You must be willing to make a change. That is why they have a 24-hour chip. I will stay sober for the next 24 hours. Not sure about tomorrow, but I am willing to go 24 hours. (I have given out 10-minute chips to people – just stay sober for 10 more minutes, 10 minutes turns to 20, to an hour, to 24 hours to a week… etc.
Whether or not you knew, but your statement of “We can only change when we are open and willing to admit that we are nothing without God and surrender to whatever the Spirit wants to do in/through us.” is the third step if the AA program “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
Thank you for your reply 🙂