Lessons From a Third Grade Dropout by Rick Rigsby

Author:Rick Rigsby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2017-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

When you examine our society, it is easy to speculate why we have departed from a community of helpers. We live in a culture that would prefer to make an impression rather than an impact. Rarely would one find the words helper and impression in the same sentence. The goal of our present culture is to appear as though we are a helper. After all, who has the time or the resources? Besides, you cannot trust people anymore! And so, helping has been banished from our lifestyle and our language, while we strive to look good, sound smart, and appear appealing. After all, the goal is for people to like us!

Conversely, when you commit to a lifestyle of helping people, the focus is on them! Often, efforts will go unnoticed and unreported. Helping does not occur on a stage. Helping occurs in the garage, in the backyard, out of view of spectators, in closets, under sinks, at the computer, under the car hood, in the church kitchen, and so forth. There are no executive retreats featuring bonuses and offering incentives for employees who excel in helping. Few classes focus on how citizens may help others. The yellow pages do not advertise for people willing to help for free. In fact, if someone approached you and said they were volunteering their day to help, your second response would be suspicion (your first response would be fainting!). The community of helping is a long distance from the blare of the crowd and the glare of the lights! And so, helping—regardless of its nobility—is a tough sell in a post-modern world where people have become accustomed to and profit from talking about, marketing, promoting, and showcasing themselves.

This was not Roger Rigsby. A helper was the essence of who my father was. I can recall day after day, night after night that my father would help people. His help was not predicated upon how much you paid him or how available he was. “Son, always put yourself in a position to help somebody. Your job is to look for people to help. You’ll find great joy in helping others to their feet.”

Dad led by example. He was not much on words. He used his head and his hands, but his heart led him. And what a servant’s heart he had.

Whether it was assisting with coaches, doing laundry around the house, helping a friend with a painting job, or working in someone else’s home, we watched parents help others. When we were old enough, we participated and gained valuable experiences.

I learned from a third-grade dropout that helping has immense value. Helping is honorable. Helping restores dignity. Helping builds community. The very nature of helping calls into question the issue of self-absorption. As a result, helping others may be the most important element of team building that a coach, educator, executive, or clergy leader can foster. At the root of team is the removal of “I.” If the leader of a team—whether a sales force or

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.