Strengths alone do not a ministry make.
—Kent Hughes

Most basketball players are right-handed. They find it easier to dribble to the right than to the left. Going to the left requires them to use their other hand, which isn't natural. Only the best players are ambidextrous, able to play well with either hand.

Sometimes even pastors have to go to their left.

Soon after I became a Christian in high school, I was certain God wanted me to preach. But I had a problem: shyness. Even today, when I'm with new acquaintances, I'm not the type to assert myself. I'm perfectly happy to sit at the back and follow other people's leads.

Since I had been called to preach, though, I knew I would have to deal with this weakness. So as a teenager, I intentionally took leadership positions: I was a student body officer in high school and a leader in my church youth group. In front of such groups, I felt terrified. At times I achieved the illusion of being a confident, articulate leader, but I wasn't. Nothing I ...