You teach what you know but you reproduce who you are

This thought is resonating with me often in this season of ministry.  At Elevate Church we are seeing incredible growth and it seems God is preparing us to have a strategy to reproduce the DNA of Elevate in other venues for the purpose of touching lives and I want to offer some thoughts on the various facets of the above proverb:

We can teach the very best of what we know, but we reproduce the best and worst of our self/church/organization.

To pass on what we know allows us to contribute to those who want to learn from us. To empower others to carry our DNA allows us to invest in emerging generations.

You might be able to fake head knowledge by quoting all the latest books and re-tweeting the wisdom that comes across twitter, but when it comes to actually reproducing yourself nothing is hidden.

It is a privilege to teach others, but lasting honor comes from reproducing  yourself in others.

It is harder work, takes longer and requires more investment to reproduce who you are than teach what you know.

It isn’t either teach or reproduce it is both teach and reproduce – both have value.

Know what application (teaching or reproducing) is needed in the right moment with the right people.

You can teach best practices to anyone willing to learn, but you must have compatibility and alignment for DNA transfer.

If you are going to teach what you know,  know something worthy of teaching. If you are going to reproduce who you are, be something worth reproducing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on teaching what you know/reproducing who you are.