If you have grown up in any culture impacted by Christianity, you are probably familiar with Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul. He wrote the majority of the Holy Books known among Christians as the New Testament. He impacted and helped de-alienate a Jewish story for Greek- and Roman-influenced peoples
But have you ever heard of Ananias or Barnabas? Maybe you have.
Whether this is your introduction or reacquaintance, Ananias and Barnabas speak to 3 reasons why empowerment is worth it. That said, buyer beware: Investment is risky and worthy of an honest hesitation.
Now, let’s get this out of the way: I am not exclusively talking about investments for one’s stock portfolio. Invest in that sense is about putting something in to get something out, especially of monetary value.
Investment, as I am defining it, is around giving power and authority to something.
The usage of investment though, in either sense of the word, gets under the risk. To invest is to clothe, to surround. It’s risky to place value on something and find yourself to be foolish.
In the realm of relationships, they are as dynamic and volatile as the stock market, whose data points reflect just one dimension of human behavior. It is no wonder then that C.S. Lewis, when considering the risk around relationships, wrote
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.
To invest is to be vulnerable.
To empower is to be vulnerable.
To relate is to be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is worth the risky, relational investment. In the language of venture capital, vulnerability is the unicorn for exponential impact. In the words of someone else who wrote about The Last Unicorn,
The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things.
So, let's dive into the proper order of things as we trade safety, pace, and outperformance for exponential impact.
The 3 Risks of Empowerment
Back to Ananias and Barnabas. Here is what Luke in the Acts of the Apostles records about Ananias and Barnabas and the risks they took for Paul:
10 There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: “Ananias.” “Yes, Master?” he answered. 11-12 “Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.” 13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.” 15-16 But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.” 17-19 So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal. 19-21 Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?” 22 But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah. 23-25 After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket. 26-27 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name. 28 After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name.
To empower is to clothe someone with initiative and involvement. To allow one to steward what is possible in her life is to affirm the dignity she possesses as an image bearer of a Creator God. To allow one space at the table is to affirm the value he possesses in the larger body of community. Ananias and Barnabas took great risks. We are privileged to see the outcomes: dozens of letters written and canonized, new gatherings of Jesus followers started, and clarity delivered by an outsider to an otherwise insular group.
Empowerment Risks Safety
Ananias risked safety, not only with his body, but the safety of status with his fellow community members. Think about it: All the reports coming into the city state there is a man who has gone around and killed many members of this new religious sect. He now has papers to do the same within the city. Next thing you know, Ananias walks in, guiding this murderer through the front door of your home.
It takes risk for a company to empower former criminals onto their payroll. It takes risk for a neighboring community to buy goods from a leper community. It takes risk to bring in a French parolee, and then find that risk leaves you with less silverware.
Without that risk though, we would not have Dave’s Killer Bread. Systems of caste would never be broken. The power of Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables would fall flat.
Empowerment Risks Pace
Ananias risked pace. Again, we are fortunate to have hindsight and see how Saul’s presence in Damascus enhanced the conversation around Jesus in a way that was at a standstill prior to his arrival. Ananias didn’t know this.
To come alongside Saul took time away from debates and discussions. It cost food. It cost days.
It takes risk to have team-led conversations rather than dictate directives. It takes risk to believe the local eyes who warn of personal blind spots. It takes risk to pause midway through a project because of a possible environmental anomaly.
Without that risk though, you can fail to access the genius of your larger team. You can dig a well when the community already has five. You can launch a space shuttle that will never reach its destination.
Empowerment Risks Outperformance
Ananias and Barnabas were both outperformed by Saul. History attests to this.
This is the risk that requires hesitation. Because it is the risk that, when done well, will never “go in your favor.”
As pop-culture guru Yoda once said,
We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all [mentors].
It takes risk to make all your materials free for use after initial training. It takes risk to be more concerned about transformation than transaction. It takes risk to become lesser than so that others can grow.
Without that risk, our teams in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and Latin America wouldn’t see the proliferation of villages experiencing well-being and hope in the hundreds from teams of less than one dozen.
I am a believer in this risk, because on the lips of communities my colleagues walk alongside, they are more likely to spout stories of their transformation than accolades of our mission statement. Outside of my occupation, I believe in this risk as I parent, for what is a parent but one who risks the safety of sleep, the pace of adulthood, and the outperformance of peers so that their children find wellness in all dimensions of their lives?
Reflections for Your Empowerment
Who in your life would benefit from empowerment?
What are the risks of safety associated with empowering them?
What are the risks of pace associated with empowering them?
What are the risks of outperformance associated with empowering them?
How would your community benefit from empowering them?
At the Resilient Communities Center, our team of mentors and coaches believe in empowerment and you going further than we ever could on our own. We invite you to join an upcoming Learning Cohort where you can work out in real community what empowerment can look like in your life, work, and community.
You and your community are worth the investment.
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