Pastor Mark Batterson is one of my mentors…he might not know it, but that’s not the point! I love how he thinks and I want to be more like him. So, every once in a while I share something from his blog that makes me a better person.

When I was a sophomore in High School I took a speech class. I decided to seize the opportunity to share my faith. Looking back, that speech was my first sermon. But here’s the thing: the idea of ministry had never crossed my mind. Not even on my radar screen.

Without me knowing it, my mom sent that speech to my grandma. And my grandma showed it to her Bible Study leader. And her Bible study leader, whose name I don’t even know, said: “Has Mark ever thought about ministry?” And the answer was “no”! I hadn’t thought about it. But that question planted a seed.

That man, whose name I don’t even know, saw something in me. He spoke into my life and called something out of me. Honestly, that question was left unanswered for years. It lay dormant. But when you speak into someone’s life and call something out of them, you never how or when or where God is going to use it.

We need to speak prophetically into each other’s lives. We need to call things out–gifts, passions, goals, dreams, desires. Isn’t that what Jesus was so good at? He saw the martyr in a denier named Peter. He called it out by calling him “the Rock.”

Prophets call things out of the people. It’s also called leadership. I’m thinking of this today because I read a manuscript an aspiring author sent to me and he definitely has the gift. I emailed him back and called it out. I want to call the best out of others the way Jesus did. That’s leadership. That’s discipleship.