Rod and Sue at home. Can you spot Lillie?

Sir Isaac Newton, the brilliant physicist and mathematician in a letter written in 1675 to fellow scientist Robert Hooke, wrote “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
He was speaking on how he had been using the understanding gained by major thinkers who had gone before him in order to make intellectual progress.

As I read these words, I paused to reflect on the giants on whose shoulders I have stood. The giants that have impacted me up close in their lifetime of service for Jesus.
I also began to think of significant people in the Bible who were greatly impacted by the giants on whose shoulders they have stood. In the Old Testament we find Elijah and his successor Elisha, and Moses and his successor Joshua, whilst in the New Testament we find Jesus and His disciples, and Paul and Timothy to mention a few.

It has been my practice to seek out giants on whose shoulders I could stand for a season and benefit from their accumulated experiences and wisdom. One significant person has been John Maxwell who impressed on me that no one gets to the top alone and defines a mentor as “Someone who teaches, guides and lifts you up by virtue of his or her experiences and insight. A mentor is someone with a head full of experience and heart full of generosity that brings those things together in your life.”

Some of the giants I have sought out in my life have been:-

• John Mallison
  I heard John speak at a seminar soon after becoming a pastor. I later decided to fly interstate to find him and knocked on his door and after spending some hours with him, asked if he would mentor me. He agreed and for the next 30 years he became a dear friend to me and my family and a valued mentor. I was honoured to be invited to speak at his funeral of his impact on my life.
• John Maxwell
  Early in my ministry I became aware of John’s teaching gift and soon began to subscribe to his leadership recordings and sermon notes. His impact on my unfolding ministry was timely and significant and his influence on my own leadership teaching ministry was most valuable. I have never met John and yet he has made a significant ongoing difference in my life.
• Robert Munger
  Nine years after I began my ministry as a pastor, I took a two-year break and travelled to California with my young family to take up a two-year study course at Fuller Theological Seminary. One day I discovered that Doctor Robert Munger, a much-loved American pastor was serving on campus as a chaplain to the staff. I had long admired Dr Munger’s ministry and took the initiative of knocking on his office door one day to ask if I could meet with him every two weeks in his lunchtime hour to be mentored by him. By then I had learned to take the initiative if I wanted to seek out and learn from a valued leader. My practise consisted of ‘start at the top and work your way down, they might say “no” but they could say “yes”.’
  My meetings with Dr Munger were filled with wisdom that came from a lifetime of outstanding service as one of America’s most beloved Christian leaders.
• Ray Stedman
  In my younger years I attended a seminar by Pastor Ray Stedman who came to my home city to speak on how the church is the body of Christ through which each member is equipped by the Holy Spirit with gifts to express the life of the indwelling Lord. His seminar deeply impacted me, and I continued to be equipped by his teaching as I regularly received printed copies of his sermon notes. I did get to visit his church on one of my trips to America and spent a week learning from him and his staff.
• Oswald Sanders
  I was deeply impacted by Mr. Sanders’ book Spiritual Leadership and consequently wondered how I might connect with him. I contacted his mission organisation and asked if I might be able to meet with him next time he was in our city. For the next few years, I was able to meet with him for half a day during his regular visits and so began a season of rich input into my life that stirred me to see how God can take ordinary people and do extraordinary things with them.

• Jesus Christ
  Above all others, my highest priority has been to spend regular quality time being inspired by the life of my saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Like Paul, I want to be able to say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
  1 Corinthians 11:1

These are some of the giants on whose shoulders I have stood who have helped me to see further and be better equipped for the life that God had entrusted to me.

So, what about you as you read this article? Are you being intentional about investing in giants, some whom you may never meet, so that you can fulfill your potential as a person and be a good steward of the life God has entrusted to you. Are you going to make a beginning today if you have not already done so by ‘starting at the top and working your way down realising that the people you contact may say “no” but they could say “yes”.

When will you intentionally seek out the giants who are waiting to help you, the people you have never met, the speakers and books and magazines, and online regular articles.

John Maxwell writes, “After all, I am not a self-made man. It took a lot of people investing in me to get where I am today. I’ve been relentless in pursuing mentors – I need all the help I can get if I want to continue getting better. And if you want to get to the places you dream of for your life, you’ll need help too. No-one gets to the top alone. In this age of digital experience, there are more opportunities for mentoring than ever before.”

If you haven’t yet started…..

• Start today
• Be intentional and never assume it can’t happen
• Take initiatives
• Make it a high priority
• Start at the top and work your way down
• Remember God specialises in taking ordinary people who dare to stand on the shoulders of giants so that He may use them to do extraordinary things.

May it be said of you at the end of your life that you have stood on the shoulders of giants who helped you to see further.

Footnote from Sue Denton:
It has been my joy and privilege to watch Rod develop and grow as he has “stood on the shoulders of giants” and then see God position him as a giant for others.