On Being Indispensable
#219
Friend,
“The graveyards are full of indispensable men.”
I heard this Charles de Gaulle quote recently, and I keep thinking about it.
My first year as a Pastor, I was at church every Sunday for the first 6 months before I took the Sunday after Christmas off. Leading up to that Sunday, I was nervous about what they were going to do without me (I didn’t just preach, but I helped lead the singing, did a children’s moment, and more). They needed me.
At some point, God gave me a great gift. He told me the truth. The truth is a gift whether we like it or not, and God reminded me that the church had been doing church for over 100 years without me, and somehow they might be able to eke by a Sunday if I wasn’t there.
The truth had set me free. I was not indispensable, but I was dispensable. Trinity Methodist Church in Muldrow was way, way bigger than Aaron Tiger. In fact, I’ve been gone for 13 years, and they are thriving without me.
I know you are important and have important tasks. I know people depend on you, but the truth is, one day the world will keep turning when you stop breathing. So, why don’t you live free from the lie that everything depends on you, and live into the truth that we are all “dust and to dust we shall return.”
Love,
Aaron