Who Is Attracted to You?

Who Is Attracted to You?

By Steve Backlund

My goal is not to build a big church; my goal is to build big people. Bill Johnson

This quote always recalibrates what I am to prioritize as a leader. It is the foundation for my book, The Culture of Empowerment: How to Champion People.

If we want to build big people, we will need to: 

• Be more interested in their overall success as a person than what they can do for our organization

• Believe we are a significant leader capable of building big people

• Believe in the people we lead and seek to unlock the greatness in them 

• Value who they are, not just what they can do for us

• Seek ways to champion them, empower them, trust them, and resource them

• Find their strengths, utilize them, promote them, and refine them

• Seek ways to help them move forward in fulfilling their dreams and assignments 

• Train them to develop themselves and others

Empowerment is a lifestyle, not just a leadership style. It thinks win-win in relationships. It fulfills Jesus’ words on what great leaders do. “The greatest among you will be your servant” Matthew 23:11. One of the most important ways we serve people is to add strength to their lives, callings, and assignments. As we do this successfully, people will pay a big price just to be around us and what we are doing.  

Empowerment does not mean we give equal opportunity to people or equal access to us, but it is a culture that dramatically increases the likelihood of people growing bigger in their beliefs and actions, and, thus, doing bigger and greater things with their lives.

We will have difficulty building big people if we are small on the inside (easily offended, insecure, victim mindset, jealous, angry, lack mindset, unworthy, etc.). And if we are small on the inside, we will most likely not attract big people (healthy on the inside) to us and what we are doing. So my question today is this: Who is attracted to you? Who wants to be a part of your organization? Who wants what you have? One way to draw healthier people around you is to become bigger on the inside by building strongholds of faith, hope, love, joy, peace, confidence, courage, and abundance thinking. 

King Saul was small on the inside, while David was big on the inside. (You can read their stories and interactions in 1 Samuel). Saul was jealous, a people pleaser, self-centered, self-protective, double-minded, and was fearful of others becoming greater than he was. He was intimidated by David’s success and wanted to kill him. He had his kingdom taken away because he was led by his emotions, rather than godly beliefs and core values. On the other hand, David was big on the inside. He was a champion of others, drew his identity from God, cared primarily about what the Lord thought of him, was confident in the Lord, wanted Saul to win, honored Saul even when dishonored, and was not jealous of the greatness of others (consider the mighty men he raised up in 2 Samuel 23).

David knew that the most important battles he needed to win were in his own thinking and attitudes. As he pulled down internal strongholds and demolished arguments in his thinking that were trying to exalt themselves about God’s promises and his identity in Him, he became bigger and bigger on the inside. He therefore raised up big people and attracted incredible people to him as well. 

God tends to save the best for the best. This is true for marriage, ministry relationships, business partnerships, and society-saving teams. If we are petty, impulsive, and an excuse-maker like Saul, then it is doubtful that God will have higher quality people attracted to us. Yes, we do understand that the Lord in His love and mercy brings people much higher than us to advance us, but it won’t continue if we do not steward it well. 

You are not a Saul. You are growing bigger on the inside. You are demolishing the victim mindset, fear, and self-protective living in your own life. You are increasing in the beliefs and skills to raise up big people. You are growing into someone God can trust with His best people. And because of that, there is exponential increase in your global, positive influence.