June and I have been on the quarterly rotation for “coffee host” at our church which involves preparing snacks and making coffee for the before and after fellowship. In the past, we have always been paired with someone who knew how to make the coffee…until today, and I was in charge of making 5 pots of something I don’t even drink!
I’ve been briefed, and I knew there were written instructions, but I’ve never before today taken the first action. So I got through it, but not without the following errors:
- The pot of hot water and the first pot of coffee were only half pots since I didn’t see the “full/half” buttons until the third pot, and the system was set on “half.” (Yes the coffee was too strong, I’m sure, with the full amount of coffee in half a pot of water, but I rectified my mistake before anyone drank it!)
- The coffee they intended for us to use was in red containers in the cabinet I didn’t look in. I found coffee in the original bags in another cabinet.
As I say, I made the coffee, no one complained, and the last thing I did before leaving the church was brief the person who was going to be making coffee next week! I showed her the instructions, told her where the red containers were, and pointed out the full/half buttons.
The lesson? We learn only by doing, and it’s OK to let someone do before they are ready. That’s part of the training. At 8:30 a.m., I had little idea what I was doing, and at noon, I was briefing my replacement!
Jesus sent out the 12 long before they were ready (Matthew 10). The woman at the well invited the townspeople to hear Jesus (John 4), and Jesus sent out the formerly demon-possessed guy to tell his story (Mark 5), both with no training.
I believe in training. Training is a foundational part of our ministry. But let’s not let be too slow turning them loose! If I can make coffee on minimum training, anything is possible.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8.1…4, ESV, and I bet their training wasn’t finished!)
There are so many things I like about this post. What resonates with me is “We learn only by doing, and it’s OK to let someone do before they are ready”. Why? I just went through something similar last weekend in a metalsmithing workshop. I had never done parts of the technique before…just some. I got to learn by doing and before I felt ready. That’s marvelous. I have so much more I want to learn and I will do that by doing.
Thanks Bob!
LOL… I used to be on the coffee rotation, too. And I don’t drink it either!
Thanks for this simple message in making coffee. I hope those that read this entry will be ready to “send out” those who are willing to go and “make the coffee!” Great lesson Brother!
Thanks, James. Just today, June had a ministry opportunity pop up that she didn’t feel ready for. I told her you would say, “Just go make the coffee!”