"Change the categories that people use to interpret their world." This quote caught my attention as I was reading Making Spiritual Sense by Scott Cormode. Scott rightly attests that Christian leaders speak God's Word into life's situations. Everyone makes sense of situations in accordance with their respective worldviews. What the Christian leader offers, then, is new perspectives to help people adjust their expectations. Scott writes:
"The common theme is that Christian leaders make spiritual meaning.... In short, meaning-making-leaders give people the vocabulary and theological categories to imagine a different way to interpret the world and to construct a new course of action that flows from that interpretation" (Cormode, 66).
A Christian leader does indeed shape the way people interpret the world, both the un-churched and faithful church attenders alike. At this point, it is important to stress the fact that people see what the Christian leader does, hears what the Christian leader says, and thus is taught the way Christians are "supposed" to be. How a Christian leader responds to trials is how Christians are "supposed" to respond. How a Christian leader reacts to criticism, how he or she speaks to people outside of church, how they handle their relationships, the choices he or she makes, EVERYTHING a Christian leader does is viewed by others as "Okay," or "right" because a Christian leader is doing it.
Therefore, let us take our responsibility as people of influence to help others interpret the world in a way that is glorifying to the Lord and helpful to others because our actions and words are meaningful and should always be Kingdom oriented.
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