The Four Zones of a Powerful Life
Jim Ladd
Whenever we think of being great, we tend to think of the dramatic; saving a person in a fire, rescuing a damsel in distress, jumping into a frozen lake to rescue a dog, or saying the perfect and powerful thing that helps someone receive Christ, etc.
We think of the big, dramatic moments or the awesome deeds that will be remembered for a long, long time. I think we are dead wrong about this.
Often I imagine that the most celebrated heroes of heaven will be people that almost no one has ever heard of. People who loved Jesus well, served selflessly in their daily life, and loved the vulnerable without fanfare, or just showed up faithfully for a lifetime.
Think about it this way, if you want to become great for God. The guiding principle is to make the decision to live for the will of God: nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. But let’s get specific and set out a course to greatness…a progression. And I think it goes like this:
Inner Life -> Private Life -> Public Life -> Ministry Life
Inner Life. Truly the greatest thing you can do for God and for the world is to be fully God’s. That is, be mindful of the realities of your soul, keep your soul rooted and established in God’s love, and allow the Holy Spirit to continue the ongoing formation work of helping you be conformed to the image of Jesus. This requires quiet reflection, Scripture reading, prayer, confession, etc - the practices that make room for the Holy Spirit to do His thing in us and with us.
Private Life. The next progression is for God’s work IN you to become expressed THROUGH you to the people who know you best. That is, for there to be genuine transformation observed and humbly shaped in the community closest to you. The enormous volume of people with highly public ministries who sucked at their private life, with their spouse or family, is overwhelming. If it’s not working at home behind closed doors with the ones who know you best, it’s not working at all.
Public Life. Then comes the life that observers can see where you work, live, learn, and play. The life customers see when you serve them. Or that servers see when you dine out or fly on a trip. The life of business transactions, conflict resolution, diversity of opinions, successes and failures. The you that most people see.
Ministry Life. The final zone, and actually the least impactful, is your ministry life. The class you teach, the program you lead, the songs you sing, the volunteer leadership that you offer, and the sermons you preach. These are important for sure, and yet they are the lowest in impact, the lowest in authenticity or vulnerability, and the lowest in priority.
If you want to be great for God, start in zone 1 and keep that as the foundation of everything you do, become, or attempt for God. Then make sure it is healthy and good in the most important zones as you make your way outward to the more public, and less powerful, zones.