"Where is your limp?"

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I appreciate hearing
  (in)appropriate,
            creative,
                  subversive
                          nonstandard and exceptional

 interview questions (or answers) for job/ministry staff applicants.
(For a good time, start at this link: HOW TO KEEP A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY)


 I was once told that the first question is always "Is there anything in your past, that if we knew it would embarrass you or talk us out of hiring you."

!!

 If that fails, "Have you looked at pornography in the last month?"

Probably not the best openers...or are they?

 In "Death by Church, " (great book),  Mike Erre writes:

David Gibbons, a pastor a pastor of another church in our area, once spoke to our staff and said that in his church, three questions are asked of any potential leader or staff member.  I have hung on to two of the questions he mentioned as a helpful way to cultivate an environment where weaknesses, brokenness, and failure are openly discussed and dealt with. The first question is,

         where is your limp?

                                            [emphasis mine -dw]

The question is derived  from the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32.  His struggle with God results in a limp that Jacob walks with the rest of his life " What lies behind this question is the assumption that God uses our weakness and struggle ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-10) and that this becomes our platform for ministry   People who are not in touch with their own brokenness are hindered in ministry ... For me, this rings true. My entire ministry is different because I have struggled (or am struggling) with  struggled (or am struggling) with food, pornography, anxiety and depression, and greed.   I have learned that our strength is not always the most qualifying thing about us.

               -Erre, "Death by Church" p. 247 ( read the whole section here)

I love that #1. . I like #2  ("What is in your hand?") a lot.
 But Erre never reveals the third, and I don't find anywhere online where Gibbons mentions it. Hmm..I'll tag them both, and ask.