Elevate Yourself By Elevating Your Community

Here’s a story to get your mojo going. 

Two guys are talking about their boss's upcoming wedding. The first guy says, “It's ridiculous! He's rich, but he's 93 years old, and she is just 26! What kind of wedding is that?” The other says, "Well, we have a name for it in my family." "What do you call it?" the first guy said. "We call it a football wedding." The first guy asks, "What is a football wedding?" The second guy says, "She's waiting for him to kick off!"

Assuming those two men are correct, that woman is using the boss to her own end. She is subtracting rather than adding. She is taking away value rather than adding value. Conceptually speaking, she’s the tick, and he is the dog. But if that man lives long enough, they both might end up with two ticks and no dog. (I couldn't resist that). 

I use the concepts of “plundering” and “populating” to explain this phenomenon. The Spanish Conquistadores came to Latin America for two reasons: self-adulation and to plunder the land, gold, and its treasures. They were not interested in elevating the people in the land. Their mindset was one of conquest rather than contribution, domination rather than transformation. As the 26-year-old woman in the story above, Spain used Latin America to its own end. That was a lose-lose for both Spain and Latin America. 

Now, I'm not trying to be critical of Spain; I love Spain. Later, the Spanish brought the gospel to Latin America. Almost all European and Asian political powers did the same thing from the 15th to the 17th centuries. That is just what one did in those days. However, let's make sure we don't unwittingly do the same thing to Glendale, Peoria, North Phoenix, West Phoenix, Marana, Redlands, Johannesburg, or wherever. (I’m in Johannesburg, South Africa, as I’m writing this article.)

Whether we are in business, education, media, church, arts, sports, or government, please understand that we are here to "populate" the community rather than "plunder" the community. We exist for the community, not the community for us. You’re here because they’re here. Generally, if we build our community, our community will build us, assuming we have sufficient integrity, vision, and a good skill set. 

How do we build our community? Let's look to the Ancient Scriptures, the Word of God, and see if we can find wisdom today. In Jeremiah 29:7, Jeremiah says the following to God's people living in the faraway city of Babylon: "And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you in exile (to be part of) and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in Babylon’s welfare, you will have welfare.” Do you see that? 

The Hebrew word for "welfare" is shalom. Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, welfare, soundness, prosperity, tranquility, fullness, perfectness, rest, and harmony. It's where you say farewell to welfare! 

This scripture offers three pieces of wisdom. 

First, pray for your community. Why? Because when your country or community does well, your finances, business, and career will do well too. Our success, or lack thereof, in our careers and lives could reflect how our country or community is doing. If our city is underachieving, our business may be affected and even harmed. We might be OK, but not as good as we could be. A rising tide helps all the boats float.

Secondly, work together with others to build your community. Be as committed to finding a remedy as you are to finding fault. People who complain and blame are usually on the plundering side of life. If you don't like your community, change it! How? From the inside out, not from the outside in. Be a participant, not a critic or observer. That's what Jesus did. Jesus wore blue jeans and got involved in the city. Jesus offered real solutions rather than complaining about the obvious. Your community can be better because of you!

See, then be, the change. Seeing the change is like opening the door to see what could be. Being the change is like walking through the door and building a better city. And let’s start with corruption. There's a difference between a social change agent and a social justice warrior. Socially minded city changers say, "Look, there are no wheelchair ramps into that building. Let's build a ramp!" Politically motivated social justice warriors say, " Let’s protest and persecute the people using the stairs and make them feel bad for having legs." Critics are almost always non-participants.

Finally, give back to your community. How? With your time, your treasure, and your talents objectively and tangibly. For example, if you make a profit from the community as a business owner, be sure to give some of it back. Don't plunder the community. Populate the community. The idea is contribution, not conquest. It will take time to see change in most cases, but consider this. We overestimate what we can do in a year but underestimate what we can do in ten years. Sometimes time takes a little time. 

Someone once said, "True heroism is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost. It's the urge to serve others at whatever cost." Consider being the change. Could it be that, all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive? Perhaps elevating yourself depends partially on your participation in elevating your community.