The Staples

By Doug Franklin February 18, 2011

Angie Franklin (my wife) wrote this post for the international LeaderTreks staff  – I wanted to share it with you.

We just did an exercise at LeaderTreks today, where we identified what the “staples” were for developing leaders…the things that were foundational, necessary and vital.  Its funny because so often we get caught up in the add-ons, the extras, and the presentation, that we forget about the staples.  Eventually, we spend so much time in the small things, that they become more important than the core of what we do.
Its good to step back every now and then, and identify the staples of your ministry, so you can ask yourself how well you are doing with them.  If mentoring is a staple for your ministry, how well are you doing at developing and recruiting mentors.  If donors are a staple to your ministry model, how well are you communicating with them.  Don’t pay more attention to the add-on aspects of your ministry than the staples.
Take this a step further.  What are the staples of your family life?  time, communication, love?  What about your Spiritual life? prayer, trust, quietness?
Jesus was great at bringing the staples back into focus whenever people got side-tracked.  I love it when the Sadducees and the Pharisees test and question Jesus, trying to catch him in a trap, because Jesus never plays their game and always takes the opportunity to teach about the staples of following him.  Read Matthew 22: 34-40 this weekend, and reflect on the staples of faith.