I grew up in, live in, have a family and went to school in a predominantly black community. I guess that’s one of the reasons we have been successful at growing an ethnically diverse church.

In middle school I was the smallest kid in my class. And was often on the losing end of playground confrontations. So, what did I do to make up for this?

Hire the Muscle!

I made friends with one of the biggest, baddest black guys in the entire school, his name was… Bulldog.

Bulldog had a gray patch in the back of his head the size of a half dollar (His trade mark) and Bulldog’s 2-favorite things to do was play basketball and eat Blow Pops (Hard candy with a piece of gum in the middle). For you young guys you don’t remember such things.

So I, being small but smart, always had Blow Pops for bulldog.

One day, I was out on the play ground and got in a fight with another kid. As we were struggling to the ground, I saw bulldog out of the corner of my eye. I thought quick and yelled, “Bulldog!”

Bulldog saw how much trouble I was in, came over, picked the other kid up by the neck, and threw him against the wall. He told the kid, “Never touch my friend again.!” BooYahh….

Victory!

I won… or bulldog won, well we won.

The lesson, leader?

Work your strengths, hire your weaknesses!

None of us can be good at everything, so if you if are tired of getting your butt kicked all the time by the Devil, your enemies or the world. Bring others around you that have the strength and experience to engage on those levels.

Let them do what the do best, so you can do what you do best

Honestly, tell me who your next “Bulldog” needs to be?