Part C: 3 Power Accelerators

You need to understand how to increase your impact with all people. You are going to run into all kinds of people and you have to know how to deal productively with every type. That is not an easy task. But there are some principles to apply that will make your road smoother with all.
You have to take everybody seriously. At the same time you always have to be willing to sell short on your expectations. Short selling is a term used in stock markets were someone evaluates that a particular stock is going to go down in value in the future. They negotiate a contract to sell the stock at a future date at a much lower price than it is currently worth and then make their money on the spread. It is kind of complicated and risky. But the point is this. Whatever you expect of people and the value of the stock they bring, you are probably over expecting. It is not likely that anyone will meet your expectations. Sell short right now and you will have a more peaceful existence as a leader. You will never go broke if you sell short on people. Sometimes you will get some pleasant surprises. Just don’t bank on them.
Since there are going to be happy exceptions, and you never know when someone will exceed your expectations, you need a positive strategy. Treat everybody as if they are going to be the one who rises above the crowd. And at the same time understand that on the aggregate you are going to be wrong most of the time. Get used to the dissonance that creates.
I have watched far too many people become disillusioned about Christian ministry. Somehow they thought things were going to be better than they were. They thought they would get more appreciation. They thought they would be treated with higher respect. They thought people would be more ready to adopt their ideas. They thought they would even get the pay raise that somebody suggested on the day they were hired, which raise would surely come in the future. Promises are just that. Promises, except those made by God, are not necessarily made to be broken but they often are broken.
There will be times of disappointment when people will let you down. In those times you must understand how to accelerate your power not diminish it. When your emotions are at their lowest ebb you may be one step away from your life’s greatest victory. How you respond in disappointment will be a great lesson for others to see.
I have discovered three keys to help me accelerate my power. I always hope for the best. I don’t always see it. But what I do know is this, the servant is not better than his Master. If the Son of Man didn’t have a place to rest His head I am way ahead living in a small house with a big mortgage.
If you have ever run into a phase in your life where you feel like having a pity party about how life is given you dirt, just go check out how tough it was for Jesus and the Apostles. You might just need to give yourself a shake. Quit comparing yourself with somebody else down the street and remember it is a privilege to serve the King of Kings.
When the burglar is smashing in your patio door it is no time for you to go out to the garage and start pumping iron so you can fight him off. The time to get ready for the crises in the tough times in your life is before they happen. If you develop a set of expectations that the battle is going to be fierce you will be prepared. And if the battle ends up being only a walk in the park you will be none the worse for wear having been properly prepared for far worse. Obviously the opposite is more likely. You never want to go into a battle under prepared. My experience has been that far too few are properly prepared.
In this section I am going to teach you some of the things that will help you evaluate the battles you are in. There are times in ministry when you wonder if you are impotent. Proper expectations will accelerate your power. Let me illustrate this way. If you were a professional baseball player in the big leagues you would only have to hit the ball effectively three times out of 10 over your lifetime to make it to the hall of fame. Nobody has ever flirted with four out of 10 over their career. Every baseball fan knows it. It’s just the way it is. That fact is very difficult for baseball players to manage at the emotional level. But the good ones get it right. In the same way, your batting average in ministry is going to be a whole lot lower than you wish. It’s just the way it is. That fact is going to mess with your mind and your emotions. These power accelerators are going to help you immensely with that as you apply them to your life and ministry.