LESSONS FROM THE MAGI

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others,” my Tanzanian friend James Kesanta said to me earlier this year. It’s an African proverb that informs young children as they travel several miles for water; friends tell this proverb when they lean on each other to bring in their crops, or band together to survive the droughts; mothers recite this saying while they grind and cook together.

I could feel the growing resistance in myself when I heard it. How about just getting some similarly fast friends? I wondered.

Who wants to slow down? Doesn’t the worm go to the early bird and the prize to the one who finishes ahead of the rest?

I thought of this proverb as I sat around the table with a group of ministry leaders discussing the urban redevelopment of our north side neighborhood. All of us could have seen each other as rivals for the same pool of potential congregants. Truth be told we likely had seen each other through that lens at one time or another. But today was a new day as we discussed the recent shooting of a beloved shopkeeper, the re-opening of a neighborhood school and brainstormed programming ideas that would bring our diverse community together in our public park. Perhaps this is your year to travel with others.

I went home that night to read again the story of the magi, the three friends who traveled more than 2,000 miles together. That’s pretty far. And I saw some patterns for long lasting ministry; patterns that were present in our group that day too.

First, the magi collect their information; pooling it together to plan their path and establish their coordinates. They don’t assume a journey of this importance would be undertaken alone. No one of them thinks, “I, alone am the only one who receives revelation on the next step. “ Ouch. We’d never say it quite like that but we know the feeling I bet. The magi understood God’s revelation in the context of relationship; it was given legs by each other.

Secondly, while the magi travel together they don’t travel in isolation from the broader world. They don’t travel in their own self-contained confidence. They stop and ask directions. What a concept! Imagine if more of our church leaders were listening and asking questions of the community we live in. Church leaders - me included – are so often guilty of giving The Answer before I even really hear the question.

Finally, the magi remain open to new directions, new insights and guidance. They return home by another way – a different way. The future journey requires a different route. And they are free to explore that new path…together.