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Building a Following
1 Samuel 22:2
"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."
One of the greatest leaders in history is David. No doubt, when you measure leaders who had the greatest impact on a nation or the world, David would easily be on the top of the list. Yet, when you look at the beginnings of his rise to power, you see that he was not like the normal leader who catered to the elite to build his following. In fact, in the verse above, you find David's following was built through the down and outers. The elite of Israel had nothing to do with David. It was those whom nobody wanted that David chose to lead.
When building a following, a person would be wise to look at the example of David and do the same. Many of the great pastors whom I know have built their churches with the down and out of society. Don't get me wrong, the people in their churches are not second-class people. What I mean by this is that these great men reached many of their people when they were at a low point in their life.
Dr. Darrell Cox who pastors the Trinity Baptist Church in Mocksville, North Carolina, has built his church by reaching those who are in need. Every time I call him he seems to be on his way to a hospital visit to help someone in need. There are other times he will return my call after doing the funeral of someone in his area. Dr. Cox has often said that he has built his church through hospital visitation and funerals. Yet, when you go to his church you will see some of the greatest people on Earth who love their preacher immensely. The reason being is because he was there for them when nobody else would have anything to do with them.
In both David and Dr. Cox's cases, you will see that neither one was looking for a following, they were simply looking to help people. You should never look to build a following, but you should look to be a help to people. When you look to build a following, then you have ulterior motives to use these people for your own agenda. Great leaders don't use people for their own agenda, but instead seek to build people.
Furthermore, you should constantly look for ways to help those who are down and out. There are many people in your city who need someone to love them. There are people right now who life has given a bad hand and they could use someone like you to love them. There are people sitting in jail that could use someone to love them. There are people who are facing financial disaster who need someone to love them. There are people who are sitting in nursing homes who need someone to love them. There are people in hospital beds who need someone to love them. There are people who seem to never get the good end of life that need someone to love them.
Make it your ministry to find someone every day whom you can love. Find those who are the down and outers and love them where they are. When you help those whom nobody else will help, then you will find that you will have a following who will be loyal to you to the end. Every Sunday school teacher, bus worker and pastor should go after the down and outers, not to build a following, but to love some people who need to be loved. By doing this, you will build yourself a following.