{"id":30239,"date":"2023-01-18T12:27:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T20:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30239"},"modified":"2024-03-09T10:56:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T18:56:21","slug":"gold-digger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/gold-digger\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold Digger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nA few times while reading “Mining for Gold” by Tom Camacho, I found myself humming the song “Gold Digger” by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. It’s a rap song from around 2005. Disclaimer: \u00a0it’s moral TRASH. Don’t Google it. Don’t Shazam the lyrics. Don’t listen to it on Spotify. It’s morally debased, and I hesitate even mentioning it in this post.<\/p>\n

However, it has a reoccurring refrain from Ray Charles’ 1954 iconic hit “I Got A Woman.” I love me some Ray Charles. That part of the song is an absolute “ear worm.” Once you hear it, you’ll be humming it all day long.<\/p>\n

And I have been. I’m actually humming it at this very moment.<\/p>\n

Now watch the crazy segue I’m about to pull off…Mining for Gold in leaders is similar to that of identifying an amazing refrain in the midst of an overwhelmingly profane song.<\/p>\n

Camacho says “Panning [for gold] was a process where they used running water to sift through rock, sand and dirt to find the valuable gold hidden in all that debris” (Camacho, 59). It’s far too common, and frankly human, to see only the debris (rock, sand and dirt) and miss a potential vein of gold within people, specifically leaders. “Becoming a godly, thriving leader does not happen apart from God’s work of grace in the human heart…grace helps us let go of judging every detail of our lives and lives of others…”(Camacho, 47). Of course, this is not a “free pass” to habitual sin, but rather an awareness that it is the Holy Spirit that does the best “sifting” for gold amidst the debris. Again, it’s a work of GRACE.<\/p>\n

According to the Apostle Paul, we’re exhorted to not “go on sinning so that grace my increase” (Romans 6:1). The invitation is to “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). So, the panning process is a grace partnership. The partnership exists between a coach, a leader, and the Holy Spirit. “We are called as leaders to mine for the gold in others, cooperate with God as he refines that gold and then help them invest that gold in the kingdom” (Camacho, 4). The author goes onto describe “the privilege of joining God…[and] cooperate with him in his leader development process.”<\/p>\n

God is the Refiner, and we are his Gold Digger assistants\/coaches. Together we pan for a “amazing refrain” within a “questionable song.”<\/p>\n

Camacho’s acrostic GOLD is a helpful template for coaches:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Gold is everywhere.<\/strong> It can be found in the most unlikely of places and people. In 30+ years of ministry I have been often been surprised, in a good way, by how often God has provided leaders from the most unlikely sources.<\/li>\n
  2. Open your eyes to see it.<\/strong> All throughout Scripture we have multiple examples of how God “chooses to use the ordinary and unqualified” (Camacho, 73) such as David, Gideon, Esther, and Paul, to name just a few. These kinds of folks are all over our local churches, waiting for coaching. Heck, I am one of those – I am living proof that God uses ordinary people – having been “seen” and invested into by mentors throughout my life.<\/li>\n
  3. Learn to draw it [gold] out.<\/strong> There are many ways to identify, mold and shape thriving Kingdom leaders. Camacho doesn’t prescribe one specific method, but rather invites the coach and leader to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. “There are lots of leadership tools and strategies in the world, but there is nothing and no-one that can compare to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the catalyst that brings real power to the Coaching Leadership process” (Camacho, 66). Yes, and Amen to that!<\/li>\n
  4. Develop others continuously.<\/strong> Mining for Gold is not a one-and-done prospect. It is a lifestyle, and we can all do it. Camacho calls it “an exciting and dynamic path. It requires great discipline and focus. It is complex, but learnable<\/strong>” (Camacho, 7).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Many years ago, as a young senior pastor, I was confronted with the immediate need to replace a departing associate\/worship pastor. My work load was substantial, and the need was great. Immediately I did what so many senior pastors tend to do. I put word out to friends and peers asking for names to consider. This was before ChurchStaffing.com was a thing, but the idea was the same. I needed resumes, and I needed them fast. Ultimately I made an outside hire, albeit quickly and without a measured and thoughtful process. That hire proved to be, how do I say this kindly…TRASH. It was not a good hire (not a bad person, just not a good hire). Within a very short period of time it became painfully obvious to me that I had overlooked the gold that was right under my proverbial nose. Within our congregation were leaders that were just waiting to be “mined.” They were “valuable gold hidden in all that debris [rock, sand and dirt]” (Camacho, 59).<\/p>\n

    Since those early days, having learned some very hard lesson (with many more yet to come), I have committed to be a “Gold Digger” – to function as a coach to leaders, many of which are right under my nose, and just need someone to see past the debris, and discover the gold. What a joy to partner with the Holy Spirit in this good work!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A few times while reading “Mining for Gold” by Tom Camacho, I found myself humming the song “Gold Digger” by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. It’s a rap song from around 2005. Disclaimer: \u00a0it’s moral TRASH. Don’t Google it. Don’t Shazam the lyrics. Don’t listen to it on Spotify. It’s morally debased, and I hesitate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2519,2527,2524,2526,2523,2525],"class_list":["post-30239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-camacho-dlgp02","tag-charles","tag-digger","tag-foxx","tag-gold","tag-kanye","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30243,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30239\/revisions\/30243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}