Articles by Charlotte Gambill

The power of Context

When I entered leadership as a young woman, I was enthusiastic, passionate and zealous in my approach to life and serving in God’s House. Sometimes though, this boundless enthusiasm led me to be over zealous in the way I handled certain situations, and as the Bible says, zeal without knowledge is not good.1  It has taken me a few years to gradually accumulate the knowledge I needed to channel my zeal effectively!

Only recently, after sitting with several of my staff members and giving counsel into a range of situations, I once again realised how my approach to people has changed and mellowed over the years. As I have examined my journey a little more thoughtfully, I have observed one thing in particular that has helped me add wisdom and knowledge to my youthful zeal. This key has helped me greatly in outworking my leadership within the church and in my understanding of people. That key has simply been to appreciate and embrace the power of context.

Every person you encounter is doing life in a particular context. There are circumstances, attitudes and complications surrounding their lives which are shaping the decisions they make and the direction they are heading. As a leader I have had to learn to take this into account. This has removed my former tendency to make quick decisions and easy assumptions and instead find out more about the context. This has increased the effectiveness of my time with people and has saved lives that otherwise could have been wrongly judged and lost.

It says in Proverbs, ‘Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.’2   I am sure you will be able to recall occasions when you misread a situation and said something you regretted. You made a judgement about someone and questioned their commitment only to find out afterwards that they were a single parent working two jobs to support their family, so they simply couldn’t commit as much time as other people. Or you became frustrated with someone because they didn’t have what you considered to be a perfectly good reason for what they had done. This happens so often in church life that I think the expression, ‘you’ve taken that right out of context,’ must have been invented there!

Who’s On Board?

We need to realise that there is often a bigger picture to what is happening in the lives of the people in our world. I have, for example, had to realise that all my staff have contexts that will affect my world; contexts I need to appreciate before I employ them.

Remember Jonah? He had a context which, if his shipmates had known about, would have made them think twice before letting him on board. It was not incidental; it affected everyone who set sail with him that day as they found themselves in the middle of a raging storm, caused by his context of running away from God.

Taking the time to find out the full context will deliver us from some nightmare scenarios in our churches, leadership teams, families and marriages. Ask questions before you ‘set sail’ because it is too late when the ship is going under and everyone is panicking. Sometimes we are too trusting, too desperate, or too busy to find out what is going on in someone’s life, but we can’t effectively help people if we don’t know their context.

Context Unlocks Situations

The power of context is well illustrated by a story in 2 Samuel 20. This rather strange incident happened in the midst of a raging battle. Joab had been going from city to city on a mission to catch and kill Sheba. He and his men pursued him to the city of Abel Beth Maacah and laid siege to it.

That day Joab’s plans were altered by a wise woman who interrupted his schedule to bring some context. As they were battering down the city walls she stopped him in his tracks. She would not accept that her city was to be destroyed for no apparent reason and was determined to find out why! There was also some important information that she wanted Joab to have. She explained to him the context of her city, that it was known as a peaceful place that helped people, so why was he attacking it?

Once they knew the context that they each were working within, their shared understanding brought new options about how to resolve the situation in the best possible way. Joab wanted Sheba dead and the woman certainly didn’t want him disrupting her peaceful city. So, they worked together for an outcome that benefited them both. The people in Abel Beth Maacah killed Sheba for Joab and were saved from destruction that day. This courageous woman brought resolve to the situation and avoided hundreds and thousands of casualties by understanding the power of context.

On that day, Joab and his army were on the rampage until someone explained the circumstances to them. All they needed to do was have one conversation, to stop for a moment and they got the same result with far less effort, upset and destruction. Sometimes we can be like Joab, ready to bombard the city and rush into a situation, to speak too soon, or act before we know what is really going on. We have our ladders up against the city walls and are ready to tell that person just what we think, we are ready to rush headlong into that situation, difficult relationship or problem in our marriage to sort it out. But before you do rush in, consider slowing down and talking about it first. Context brings clarity and a fresh perspective to what you face and can save you from unnecessary worry and upset.

Work With Context

Youth doesn’t allow for it, hastiness hasn’t time for it and frustration disqualifies it but Jesus always worked with context. He took an interest in the setting he found people in and understood that circumstances often explained the way they were. If they were broken or hurting, he entered that with them. When his friend Lazarus died, Jesus knew he would raise him from the dead, yet he still wept with his family.3  That seems like such a strange way of behaving, but for Jesus it was about relating to people, loving them and understanding where they were at. Maybe you also need to learn to weep with people, to comfort and listen to them, to enter their world and appreciate what they are facing before you respond.

We need to approach people like Jesus did and be sensitive to what is happening in their lives. For example, the loss of a loved one is a context that needs handling in the right way along with other difficulties like debt, unemployment, illness and relational struggles. Context doesn’t give people an excuse for behaving badly, but it does give an explanation and this is a gift we can give to each other.

We should never use circumstances as an excuse to ‘park up’ but they are important pieces in the jigsaw of our lives which need to be worked with. God isn’t going to remove the piece of the puzzle that is circumstantially difficult but he will ask you to place it into the context of your life. Once you take your eyes off it and start to look at the bigger picture, it will take your focus off the pieces you would rather be without and help you find a way forward.

Every leader and pastor needs wise people like the woman in 2 Samuel 20 who will come alongside them, ask the right questions and then help to get situations sorted out. We need to be suitable helpers by encouraging each other to embrace context. We simply don’t need to have any more churches damaged or lives destroyed because no one has taken the time to value and understand it. Too many people have left the House of God, or are bitter towards leadership or a friend because someone took a decision or said something without finding out what was really happening. Context really can save lives and stop innocent people getting hurt.

Scripture says, ‘A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.’4    That should be our aim whenever we speak into a situation. Then our words will be valuable, timely and beneficial to those who hear them because we have learnt to embrace the power of context. I hope that today this life-changing key will make you slow down, wait, ask and think before you speak.

1    Proverbs 19:2
2    Proverbs 29:20
3    John 11:35
4    Proverbs 25:11