Effectiveness > Greatness.

Though my wretched heart pulls me toward it, I consciously reject the idea of being great.

I don’t want to be great; I want to be effective.

I’m learning that effectiveness can best be applied in a small, close-knit community.

A community of true vulnerability where the masks come off and our flaws—present and past—are forced to show their face.

Where the presence of darkness is not given a pat on the back and welcomed for its intriguing “mysteriousness,” but fully revealed and accounted for while being forced out through the infinite power of genuine, bold, unconditional love.

The word “greatness” has been compromised, and it’s the new definition I fight against.

To be some sort of once-in-a-lifetime, famous, set apart being is not my hope.

On the contrary, I pray to be an exact copy of someone who has already existed: the true human—Jesus of Nazareth.

To be some sort of once-in-a-lifetime, famous, set apart being is not my hope. On the contrary, I pray to be an exact copy of someone who has already existed: the true human—Jesus of Nazareth.

I pray to be a simple arrow facing the freedom of the Way.

I pray to resemble those who have so powerfully directed me toward the Truth.

I pray to reflect the beautiful glory of the Light.

I pray to train others to follow me as I follow Jesus.

Not that we are carbon-copies, because truly reflecting the entirety of God’s image requires the diversity of various cultures, personalities, and passions He has woven into each of us.

For as the entire body presents a human more fully than a single ear, so all of humanity presents the image of God more fully than a single person.

But it is open vulnerability in a committed community driven toward unity centered around humanity’s common denominator—the imago Dei—that procures the finest soil for effectiveness to grow.