Reading Reflection (1/24/09)

As I've been going through the readings in the Strategy Reader, I'm suddenly reminded that in the midst of all this strategizing we can't forget the heart of missions. In Chapter 72, the author of the article Robert A. Blincoe mentioned Mother Teresa. While his focus was on her ability to maximize her charitable movement, my reflections went back to her actual mission: to help the poor of Calcutta. That was the heart of her mission. Though she may have approached it from a strategic standpoint so as to allow for the furthering of the gospel, her mission still began with the one person in front of her. Perhaps I'm just not getting it, but I'd hate to think that in the process of learning about strategy, I forget to "stop for the one." What is my duty as an individual equipped with the truth of the gospel? To go where the Spirit leads me to go, to share the gospel with whomever the Spirit gives me the opportunity to cross paths with, and to as much as possible make sure that the gospel being understood is in fact the true gospel. I can approach this mandate or duty from a strategic standpoint so as to make the futhering of the gospel most effective, but I had better be spending more time actually sharing than just planning.