"It's Not About Me" by Dr. Lindsay Knipple
If you're reading this, chances are you've already validated
this point. The fact is, most of you don't
know me. And even if you do (or perhaps
just my last name), your life would not change dramatically if tomorrow I
didn't exist. When I started to think
about this in the context of my life, it really rocked my world. The fact is, that although it's easy to say
that the world doesn't revolve around me, making this work in my daily life is
a hard pill to swallow.
All of my life, I've wanted to be a doctor. And when God's calling to do so finally collided with my heart's desire, I was
psyched. So now that I'm here, I'm
struggling through the ins and outs of what it means to live out God's calling
for my life through my profession and through my relationships.
I've met
two people
since I've been at Shands Hospital that are Christians. That's
two
people in two years that share my beliefs.
That's about 100 people that I come into contact with on a daily basis
who are 10 times as smart as I am (make that 100 times), 20 times as liberal as I am (or 30 or 40),
and frankly, that's about 100 people who could care less what I have to say
about Jesus. So how can these people be
reached on some sort of meaningful level?
No one cares to hear what I have to say, in my opinion,
because I haven't invested the time and effort into understanding and
appreciating them first. If you think
about it, it's pretty ignorant of me to think that someone is going to give a
flip about what I have to say if I show no interest in who they are or what
makes their world turn. So I'm trying to
learn about building relationships. I'm
also learning how much I stink at it.
You see, building relationships and really connecting with
people on an intimate level (strangers, friends, spouses, family) revolves
around the principle of regarding EVERYONE as more important than myself. If I truly take a look at my life, my
checkbook, and my time, I can easily see that although I'd like to think I do
this with ease, I spend a lot of time placing a lot of value on me. But can you imagine how my impact would
change if my job wasn't anything about me?
If I truly regarded EVERYONE at my job as more valuable than myself? Or, college crew, how about if you truly
believed your time at school wasn't even about you, but about everyone around
you? What if the successes and happiness
of mere acquaintances was so much more important than my own that I was willing
to glorify them, taking a back seat for myself?
What if I talked 10% of the time in conversation and then listened the
rest? What if I didn't have to be
right? What if sharing Jesus became a
series of actions that reflected Him so clearly that words were not even
necessary?
A closer look at the
life of Jesus reveals that this isn't a new concept. That even though life really WAS all about
Him, He never used who He was for personal gain. Instead, he humbled himself and made himself
a servant to all. Instead of using His
power or position of authority for his Glory, he opted to value others as
greater than Himself. As a result, he
built deep, life-changing relationships.
And people cared what He had to say.
My life is not about me. My job
is not about me. My marriage is not
about me. And in understanding this, I can start to make
it about building the type of relationship that allows me to tell the greatest
story ever told.
(
Lindsay Knipple, a founding Well-er, currently works and lives in Gainsville with her husband Shane and their daughter Riley.)
