Exploiting My WOO

A friend of mine in high school once joked that I had what he referred to as Walmart woo.  He went onto explain that everyone has access to my woo; meaning that I flirted with every girl that walked.  This was largely true at the time, thankfully I’ve calmed down since then.  What I want to focus on now though is a different kind of woo, albeit a kind that can be used in the classical sense of the word as well.

WOO stands for Winning Others Over and is one of my strengths according to some strengths test I took back in the spring.  This has been apparent for some time as I’m usually able to get people to do something I want them to.  This can be used for very good things or very detrimental things, again simply a tool that I wield.  Unfortunately, I’ve used it in my past to woo women into doing things that are, ahem, less than holy one might say.  However, I’ve also been known to use woo to point others towards Christ.

I’ve also been known to use my woo to help persuade others to do fun things or encourage and equip others.  It has a certain amount of leverage that goes along with it.  I can use it to challenge and teach others, or I can mislead others with it, like when I was highly manic in the mental hospital and ended up having a couple followers who thought I was Christ incarnate.  Don’t worry, I’ve repented of that and I’m positive God is big enough to understand an episode of psychosis such as I was experiencing at the time. 

Sometimes I’m unable to see my effect on other people until a few years later.  I have a close friend who once introduced me as a “liberal, tree-hugging friend of mine.”  I just laughed it off due to my friends and their way of loving me through all my little kicks I get on.  Little did I know a few years later that same friend would then lead the camp that he’s director of through a summer series entitled ‘Dirt.’  As you can probably guess, they dealt with creation care that summer. 

Suddenly I realized I played a little part in that decision.  Obviously, he probably wouldn’t even acknowledge that as having played any part whatsoever in his decision.  When you start out making fun of someone because they’re a tree hugger only to embrace a fair amount of tree hugging yourself a few years later though, forgive me for drawing certain conclusions. 

I purposely try to win others over at my church for sacrificial giving.  I preach about it but more importantly try to live it out on a regular basis.  Often I find myself trying to pray to God to stretch me as a generous giver and I am happy to report that is a prayer He always answers.  Quite frequently I find myself in discussions with fellow members of my church back home about ways they can increase their giving, be it financially or with their precious time.  Missions is another area I try to influence people in.  Admittedly, I failed miserably when I tried to put a trip together for my church.  However, I could say that I inspire other people from going overseas myself and reporting back on what I’ve learned in another cultural context.