On the way to church Sunday, I noticed the Burger King sign said You Rule. The message seemed odd to me. Last night, I saw a Burger King commercial and realized the message is from their latest ad campaign.
Later on Sunday, I shared with a friend some nervousness I feel about an upcoming opportunity to speak. She told me about a college professor who told her to “be the expert” in the room when you make a presentation. In other words, rule the room. That word bounced around in my brain a second time in the span of one day.
The notion of ruling anything makes me uncomfortable. My bent is more toward worker bee than queen bee. Nevertheless, I will be behind a microphone in April.
Where do you fall on the spectrum? Would you rather lead or follow? Really, we all do both on any given day. We just may not be aware of how we lead others.
A year ago I made a new friend. Her life changed a lot after her second child moved to college. All the years she spent rearing her first two children left no spare time with which to question. When we met, she stood at a bit of a crossroads. Seemingly all of a sudden, she found herself with additional capacity and zero clue what to do with it.
For the last year, I have watched my friend flex her God-given abilities and make an impact on her community. In the span of only one year, the change in her life is measurable. The fun part, though, is that she did not move, get additional education, a raise, or any of the other things we like to use as excuses to stagnate. She just got involved locally and does what she can. She rules where she is with what she has, and it is beautiful to watch.
I think we can all take a page from my friend’s playbook. Your realm and my realm starts where we sit and extends to wherever we set our feet. No amount of preparation, study, or cash will ever be more important than a heart willing to serve. And, we are all created with unique sets of skills, experiences, and know-how that match the needs that exist in the community right where we live.
Our service is how we rule. Sounds backward, doesn’t it? We lead by doing for others. We provide a beautiful example for those who follow. Following, by the way, is how we learn. Each position aids our growth as people. We struggle when we stagnate from choosing to make life more complicated than it needs to be.
It turns out Burger King is correct. You DO rule, as do I. We do so in a million little ways, most of the time unaware. Take some time to consider your realm. Where can you serve just as you are?
… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:26-28
Love this!!! Such wisdom.
I, like you, am uncomfortable with the word “rule”! I like the words “share”, “serve” & “give” much better! We have control of our time and finances to a large degree. What do we choose to do with them? What can we do with what we have? To me, “truth” is a necessary tool & ruler (this is my “rule”) to measure all that we think and do. People who do not read the Bible do not have a valid measure of truth among humans. Do I think I am perfect and should teach others? Absolutely not! That is the absolute truth! Oh, you don’t believe in absolute truth? Maybe some humans need to discover it! We need humility to understand that no human is capable of being absolutely true–except Christ! You know, the person of the Trinity that many pundits claim is myth! I trust HIM to be really true despite what my culture is currently claiming!
What I am teaching my Sunday School class–named JOY by the way, Jesus-Others-You–is to ask simple questions of others. “Why?”, “What makes you think that?” People are not thinking today, or they would be asking more questions instead of blindly accepting what they see and hear! Issue blindness and acceptance is not useful when your freedoms and religions are being challenged! You probably do not need these ideas, but I know that many people do!