The Last will be First
Where did we leave off? Oh yes...
What happens if we do "Line Up From Least to Greatest" again...this time without cards?
I almost always do this next part when I have gone through Line up According to the Number (or From Least to Greatest...OR whatever you decide to name your activity). It always seems like a natural progression from the debrief. I also find that you can always talk about how it isn't right or possible to label people because we all have different talents and gifts. Almost every group can come up with that answer but I like to test them on it. That's when I normally get the group to pass the cards back to me and ask them to do the activity again (this is the only part where it's nice to have a title that works for doing it with OR without the cards like "Line Up From the Least to the Greatest" because then your instructions are the same for both activities). There is usually a few blank stares as it doesn't make sense initially. How do you rank people? What is often funny to me...in our debrief moments before - we had talked about this exact thing and yet...
About half of the groups I will come up with these to order themselves by: age, height, grade level, hair colour, shoe size, clothing colour. Most groups believe that by doing it this way - it just makes "sense". You're not discriminating against somebody's "abilities" or "personal image" - you just need an order...I would argue that that is the case if you don't believe that your age or height impact those things. How many of us get told that we won't be successful in basketball because we're too short? How many of us have been told that we're too young to understand or too young to participate? Or to young to make a change in our world? How many of us have judged someone by their looks, or the way they dress?
The other half of my groups will create either circles, group hugs, and I have even seen groups sit down and refuse to do the activity.
I love the dichotomy that this activity creates especially when moments before we had just talked about how it is not possible to label or rank people. It's like the place where we say things like: "you can't label people and say that some are more important than others" is not connected to the place where we actually treat people. Action and words are different...but they shouldn't be. Some groups get the underlying message but a lot do not. They need to have a solution - a concrete solution to the problem...and maybe within a context their solution might be right. What are the reactions in the other group members as they are being told where to go? Do they agree with their placement? How does the person being placed in the least feel about it? Is the "leader" during this portion of the activity placing themselves in the least position or the greatest?
This activity is also a wonderful metaphor for the Body of Christ - each piece of the body having their purpose and that one part cannot look at another and say that they do not need them.
This is one of my favourite activities. I love when groups corporately refuse to do activities because they can't stand to choose someone to be the least - or when someone volunteers to be the least...because they can and that is what is being asked of group...somebody needs to be the least. It draws a picture of community that is sacrificial and one willing to be less for the whole group. And when one person steps forward to do that...others are willing too. It creates a chain reaction of sacrificial giving to each other. What do I do with a group that refuses to do an activity? I commend them on doing what is rare among groups - to place relationships over achievement. But then I push (because I am an instigator) the line a little...I have them name times when you MUST give an answer...when placing relationships first doesn't seem like it is an option. Then we start getting to the place when we understand that one person might not be able to sing a note on tune...so they won't be leading worship but they can remember every name they're told and love making people feel welcome. Who's the least? Maybe we have redefined the word least...is it what the world sees? Or is it what we believe it to be? Can we name people who we would list under the Greatest? (Wayne Gretzky? Mandella? Gandhi? Dan Carter? Mother Teresa?) What makes them the "Greatest"? What makes them greater than the kid who wants to give all of his toys to another who has nothing? Maybe it's time we change the way that we see people - and what we define them by.
Have a great day - and don't forget to instigate change in your world today (and then tell me about it)!
What happens if we do "Line Up From Least to Greatest" again...this time without cards?
I almost always do this next part when I have gone through Line up According to the Number (or From Least to Greatest...OR whatever you decide to name your activity). It always seems like a natural progression from the debrief. I also find that you can always talk about how it isn't right or possible to label people because we all have different talents and gifts. Almost every group can come up with that answer but I like to test them on it. That's when I normally get the group to pass the cards back to me and ask them to do the activity again (this is the only part where it's nice to have a title that works for doing it with OR without the cards like "Line Up From the Least to the Greatest" because then your instructions are the same for both activities). There is usually a few blank stares as it doesn't make sense initially. How do you rank people? What is often funny to me...in our debrief moments before - we had talked about this exact thing and yet...About half of the groups I will come up with these to order themselves by: age, height, grade level, hair colour, shoe size, clothing colour. Most groups believe that by doing it this way - it just makes "sense". You're not discriminating against somebody's "abilities" or "personal image" - you just need an order...I would argue that that is the case if you don't believe that your age or height impact those things. How many of us get told that we won't be successful in basketball because we're too short? How many of us have been told that we're too young to understand or too young to participate? Or to young to make a change in our world? How many of us have judged someone by their looks, or the way they dress?
The other half of my groups will create either circles, group hugs, and I have even seen groups sit down and refuse to do the activity.
I love the dichotomy that this activity creates especially when moments before we had just talked about how it is not possible to label or rank people. It's like the place where we say things like: "you can't label people and say that some are more important than others" is not connected to the place where we actually treat people. Action and words are different...but they shouldn't be. Some groups get the underlying message but a lot do not. They need to have a solution - a concrete solution to the problem...and maybe within a context their solution might be right. What are the reactions in the other group members as they are being told where to go? Do they agree with their placement? How does the person being placed in the least feel about it? Is the "leader" during this portion of the activity placing themselves in the least position or the greatest?
This activity is also a wonderful metaphor for the Body of Christ - each piece of the body having their purpose and that one part cannot look at another and say that they do not need them.
This is one of my favourite activities. I love when groups corporately refuse to do activities because they can't stand to choose someone to be the least - or when someone volunteers to be the least...because they can and that is what is being asked of group...somebody needs to be the least. It draws a picture of community that is sacrificial and one willing to be less for the whole group. And when one person steps forward to do that...others are willing too. It creates a chain reaction of sacrificial giving to each other. What do I do with a group that refuses to do an activity? I commend them on doing what is rare among groups - to place relationships over achievement. But then I push (because I am an instigator) the line a little...I have them name times when you MUST give an answer...when placing relationships first doesn't seem like it is an option. Then we start getting to the place when we understand that one person might not be able to sing a note on tune...so they won't be leading worship but they can remember every name they're told and love making people feel welcome. Who's the least? Maybe we have redefined the word least...is it what the world sees? Or is it what we believe it to be? Can we name people who we would list under the Greatest? (Wayne Gretzky? Mandella? Gandhi? Dan Carter? Mother Teresa?) What makes them the "Greatest"? What makes them greater than the kid who wants to give all of his toys to another who has nothing? Maybe it's time we change the way that we see people - and what we define them by.
Have a great day - and don't forget to instigate change in your world today (and then tell me about it)!
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