In 1988, Idaho park ranger Ed Brashier called me and said, “Will you come to Harriman State Park here in Idaho to guide some tours and nature hikes?” I agreed to go. I showed up in late May to be a tour guide through this old working cattle ranch. I didn’t know anything about the history of the park or anything about ranching or horses. Our teacher prepared us because she worked the previous summer guiding tours. We practiced giving tours and learning from each other as we followed a script around the ranch. Within a couple of days, we were on our own to lead our own tour while one of the experienced guides chaperoned. Then, we were on our own to guide the tour without any help. I became very astute at meeting complete strangers, striking up conversations, finding out about them, and telling colorful stories of the people that lived on the ranch. The toughest tours were small crowds of people that didn’t ask many questions and answered MY “get-to-know- you” questions with one-word answers such as “Yeah..No..uh-huh, etc.”
Two years later, the park hired me back for another summer, but this time, they wanted ME to train the new crop of tour guides. The student became the worker who became the teacher. Of course, what Ed Brashier didn’t tell me was, “Join us where you’ll get to rake toilets, replace mufflers, wade waist deep in muck to observe a swan nest, deal with unruly park visitors, and be involved in a search and rescue party for a lost boy.” He just said, “Come join us.” And I flew to Idaho to learn.
Jesus provided his disciples a 3 year class in leadership development. First, Jesus called them out to be his followers, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Mark 1:17, NLT)
The disciples made a decision to follow Jesus, but they didn’t know they were students being trained to pick up where Jesus left off. See, Jesus left out the part about, “Follow me, I’ll teach you how to lead other people, after I ascend to heaven. Then, you’ll go on to do some amazing things to a few people while the majority of people around you will test you, taunt you, throw you in jail, and possibly put you to death like they did to me.” They would probably have continued fishing for fish.
The students became the workers who became the teachers who became the leaders. All we have to do is be willing to follow.
