Lots of folks have written smart expository about the greatest change agent in history. Jesus of Nazareth was the original agent of change. God’s in the business of change. Wait. God’s in the BUSINESS of change. Or better still: God’s in the CHANGE business.
For commercial and organizational success, we write wonderful books about Switching, Changing, and getting Good to be Great. This is a complex and mysterious journey that we undertake as leaders, marketers, product developers, artists, and health nuts. But why is it so hard?
It’s simple: Everyone else is stubborn and not as smart as me and they just don’t listen.
…. mmmmm that’s probably not it.
We even do some of the things that He did:
1. Get the right people on the team
2. Hit the streets with a clear strategy and mission
3. Know our history
4. Have dinner with prospects
Today I studied the first strategic step that Jesus of Nazareth took in embarking on his message of change.
Compassion.
As a new leader coming into a world with some pretty stiff human paradigms, Jesus started with compassion. He understood the current leadership and challenged them at their level. Every day He went straight for the true focus of his mission: the outcast and the sick. And He showed them compassion. Literally: He felt their pain in his gut.
What if we start there … in our work, in our parenting, in our marriages? Start there, and then move. It would mean we begin each interaction first feeling their pain in our gut.
I think I would feel less of the things that burden ME (which are often, well, about me) and I think I would be brightened; more motivated to make a difference in meaningful ways. And it’s possible that we’d all be exceptionally more effective in building a loyal following. Which is the first step to enacting any meaningful, enduring change.
So the next question might be, what comes after the first step of compassionate understanding?