A couple weeks ago I was in a group meeting. After one member shared a difficult experience, another member in response said something like, “That is the reason I hug you every day and tell you that you’re necessary. And you ARE necessary; don’t let anyone tell you anything different”.

This was such a significant moment for me, to watch these two group members interact. I have not been able to forget the care the one member showed for the other, or the idea of someone being necessary. The experience got me thinking about the word necessary and asking many questions of myself.  I then looked up in the dictionary, to see how my understanding compared to Webster, who says necessary means being essential or indispensable or an imperative requirement or need for something.  I wonder what would it be like or what would it look like if I truly believed I was necessary? How would the world or the church change if people were able to see themselves as necessary? What would it be like if, as the church, we consistently reminded each other of our necessity, our indispensable presence? How might that change the present and how could it change the future?

In my role, as Leadership Development Intern, I wonder how impactful it would be if leaders were consistently reminding those they lead of their necessity. Wouldn’t it be a sign of a strong/healthy leader if that leader saw each member of the team (including his or her self) as “an imperative requirement” to the work of Christ, loving one another, or of the tasks at hand? If leaders can model what it looks like to believe people are necessary for community, how would that change the community as a whole? I am reminded of 1 Corinthians where Paul talks about the different parts of the body all serving their purpose and making up the whole, and in essence each part is necessary to the function of the whole. What if leaders broke when the followers were broken and truly rejoiced when the followers rejoiced? I am not sure where all of these questions land in me or my tangible tasks quite yet but each day since the experience I’ve mentioned above, I think about the necessary individuals I interact with each day. I think about the necessity of having them in my life and on my team, and this has started to change the ways I think about being a leader, and a follower.

Kristin Spencer

Leadership Development Intern