GodChicks

• Holly Wagner
• Jan 30, 2012
• Category: mentoring
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What a fun day Philip and I had last week as we were guests on the ABC show The View. This particular episode was a departure from the kind of show they normally do. Rather than debate topics, each host brought on a person who had been a mentor and inspiration to them. Host Sherri Shepherd invited Philip and me to be her guests. Wow! We have known Sherri for years, and are honored to be her friends and pastors. She said such touching things in her introduction of us and I really enjoyed our time on the show!
Philip and I joked that he would have a hard time getting a word in, but as it turned out…he got lots of words in!!
We knew that we were being given an amazing opportunity to represent Jesus and His Church. We did the best we could. Hopefully you thought so too. And maybe, just maybe, some hurting person found their way into the House of God, somewhere in the world, this weekend and began their journey with Him.

Here are just a few of my thoughts after being on the show:

1. Never underestimate the power of the local church.
Sherri and I laughed as we agreed that she was a ‘hot mess’ when she came to The Oasis Church all those years ago. I appreciated her honesty and transparency as she described her past and the broken place she was in as she entered the church. Lots of people come into the church with hurts and issues in their past that they carry around as baggage. The church is a place where the hurting can find help, and the wounded get restoration.
Our church is certainly not perfect (after all, I am there!), but by the grace of God, we have created an environment that accepts people, and also challenges them to take the next step in their relationship with God. We speak of the forgiveness offered by Jesus, and living a life free from shame. So much life change happens in an authentic community of believers.
So many, like Sherri, come into the doors victims…of their past, some come as victims of abuse, of shame and heartbreak. And the amazing thing is that many of them, like Sherri, learn to move from being a victim to being an overcomer. They learn to use their past to help others. As a pastor, this is the prize!

2. There is such power in honor
The whole episode of The View that we were a part of was about honor. Honoring someone means humbling yourself and acknowledging their contribution in your life.
Each host chose someone they wanted to honor as a mentor….as someone who had impacted their life. Philip and I both got to meet and speak with the other hosts and watch them as they prepared to do their segments. There were some very touching moments in the green room as I listened to various conversations. Both those doing the honoring and being honored were touched. Something powerful happens when we communicate honor.

This whole experience made me want to get better at honoring people. For the big contributions to my life…and for the small ones.

3. People are watching all the time.
In talking with Sherri during the interview, I realized that she was impacted not only with words that Philip and I have spoken to her over the years, but also just by how we lived our lives.

The prophet Jeremiah put it this way:
Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came.

People are watching as you live your life. They are watching how you handle challenges, how you handle blessing, how you handle your marriage. I think I have a responsibility to set up road signs. So many people will be following on the path behind me, I have a responsibility to live my life in such a way that others will know what to do. Yes, there is pressure in this. But maybe this is a pressure we all need. If we realized that there really is a generation coming up behind us who will need to see how to navigate the challenges of life, then maybe we will be more committed to handling them with strength and grace. Not perfectly…just honestly.

So those are just some thoughts…
What are yours??

If you missed the episode of The View, you can watch it at www.theview.abc.go.com