A SIGNIFICANT Start
I know it’s been a few days since I’ve added a post. It’s been a long week - mosting consumed with leadership development with other probationary elders at the conference center.
I’ve been participating in leadership development since I was in middle school. I’ve been almost overexposed to different leadership philosophies, but somehow I seem to get a little more out of each training I participate in. Our emphasis in our probationary covenant groups this year is on leadership. I’ve been a little hesitant about the curriculum this year, since most of it is stuff I’ve already heard, but being able to hear from leaders I respect for three days this week was uplifting and left me hopeful for what lies ahead.
I’m a little concerned about what I see in some of the ministers around me though - whether just entering the ministry or having been serving for years. Maybe it’s because of my over-exposure, but I don’t see how some people manage to miss some of the basics of leadership. For instance, I don’t understand how some pastors feel that by micro-managing their staff, they’ll get more productivity out of them. I don’t understand how so many pastors feel like handing down edicts to their congregational leaders will motivate them in Kingdom work. I don’t understand how true servant leadership is rejected in favor of other styles by people that follow the ultimate servant leader, Jesus Christ.
I’ve been a part of numerous churches now and I’ve seen differing leadership styles. I’ve also learned that leadership is like a car. If you don’t look at it from the underside every now and then, you’ll end up with a great looking exterior with poorly working machinery. Every now and then, leaders have the responsibility to those that they lead to examine their leadership from underneath, to ask the hard questions about their own effectiveness and to be willing to subject themselves to a tune-up.
For all leaders, this is the most difficult thing that we can do. To be honest with ourselves, to ask for input from those who follow our lead, and to sometimes ask for help leaves us vulnerable. It can add to the insecurities that all of us have (face it, none of us are free from insecurity, ESPECIALLY as leaders under constant scrutiny), it can make us feel more out of control than we already are, and it can feel like a threat on our authority. Those leaders who already deal with a powerful insecurity, unfortunately, are those that rarely do this important maintenance.
The key is humility. Tomorrow, my message is on Jesus’ lesson on table manners. Never should we elevate ourselves to a place of honor. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who are humble will be exalted. So it is with everybody, especially those called to be leaders in the Kingdom of God.
I do want to conclude this post by letting you know just how excited I am that football season is finally upon us. GO DAWGS!! My sympathies go out to Andrew Erwin, my friend, and an incredible Michigan fan. My heart breaks for you!
