Leadership Edge - Humility and Tenacity
There is a price to pay to grow as a follower of Christ and as a leader. Jesus said that if we are to come after him we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him (Luke 9:23). In this verse we see two key components of paying a price. The first is humility (to deny oneself) and the second is drive or tenacity (to take up your cross).
When most people think of paying a price, they think of commitment, tenacity, drive and hard work. Those things are important. But the first thing is humility.
It takes humility to be a team player, to know that it is God’s favor and not you, to submit to vision and spiritual leadership and to be ok with not getting the credit for something that you did. It takes humility to admit when you are wrong.
If we have the drive and the tenacity without humility, we will be prideful and hurt others in our good intentions to succeed in leadership and see God’s kingdom move forward.
But on the other hand, if we have only humility and no drive or tenacity we will give up when in gets too tough. Leaders in God’s Kingdom must have both to pay the price for the church to move forward. Ask yourself: What are you willing to sacrifice to grow as a leader?
Be sure that your commitment will require both humility and tenacity.
Leadership Edge - Be Willing To Do What Others Won’t
Be willing to take the tough assignments. Do the tough jobs that most people avoid. We live in a day and age where everybody wants the quick fix, the easy way out, or the quick climb to the top. There are no short cuts with God and there are no short cuts to being successful and reaching your potential.
One thing that separates high capacity leaders from average leaders is that high capacity leaders are willing to take the tough jobs. They are willing to tackle the tough problems that others want to avoid. They engage with courage and confidence the difficult situations and bring progress and solutions with no excuses. While most people are looking at who to blame for a problem, these types of leaders solve problems. While most people do just enough to get by, these people are going the 2nd mile.
I believe the kingdom of God and the church ought to be full of these types of leaders because by nature (our new nature that is) we are overcomers. We have faith, hope and are full of the supernatural power of God through the Holy Spirit. That is why God tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13).
So embrace the tough assignments and be willing to do what others won’t. God promotes leaders with this attitude.
Leadership Edge – Stay Fresh With God
One of the most common questions I get from other people in ministry is how do I stay fresh or guard my daily communion with the Lord. The key here lies in what you believe about spending time with God. How necessary is it and how rewarding is it? The principle that I live by is that my time with God is the most necessary and rewarding thing that I can do. It is the absolute best use of my time possible.
It is a successful day if I connect with God through prayer and His Word. If I don’t spend time with God then everything else I do that day probably won’t accomplish what God wants it to accomplish. I really believe that. You have to really believe this in your heart or you won’t guard your time with God. There are so many important things I need to do and life is so busy, I just won’t spend time with God consistently unless I truly believe that my time with God is the most important thing on my daily schedule. My first meeting is with God and that is that. Everything else revolves around God being first in my day. So it is as simple as this (I didn’t say easy, I said simple).
- Truly believe this God-first principle: put God first on your schedule.
- Choose a time to meet with God where you can really focus on Him (first thing in the morning is usually best)
- Choose a place to meet with God (avoid distractions as much as possible).
- Have the things you need (eg. Bible, pen, journal, worship music, etc.)
Build a Bridge Not a Case
Proverbs 18:2 (NKJV)
A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.
Too many times in the body of Christ we are so caught up in our preferences and our opinions.
We think things should be done a different way (our way) because surely our way is the only way and right way and the best way — and in all of our “being right” we fail to be like Jesus. We build our “case” instead of building a “bridge.”
If there was ever a person who was right it was Jesus. Yet Jesus came not to be “right” but to reconcile us to himself. He was a bridge builder. He built a bridge between man and God. He made himself of no reputation and served others so that the kingdom of God could prevail (check out Philippians 2:5-11).
Christ has called us to be peacemakers, not case makers.
If you want to be used by God stop building your case and start building some bridges. Here are some important things to remember in building bridges in the church and the body of Christ –
- Be humble before God and truly seek the best for others.
- Your viewpoint is just that — a viewpoint, not THE viewpoint.
- Don’t be jealous of other people’s success.
- Listen and find the good and positive in every situation.
- Honor your leaders and respect their office.
- Avoid negative people who are constantly airing their opinions
- Never gossip.
- Try to see the big picture. The goal is more important than the role.
- Ministry it is not about your personal preferences but about advancing the kingdom of God.
Be a Leader: Lead Yourself
Leadership is basically about two things:
- Being an example.
- Taking people somewhere they have never been.
That is why God calls leaders. God needs examples to lead people into His purposes. Everything rises and falls on leadership. If you feel God is calling you into leadership, the first person you need to lead is yourself.
Many people confuse leadership with productivity or giftedness or ability. While you do need all those things (and more) in leadership, at the core of church leadership is being like Christ. Your character is the strength of your leadership. So as leaders we need to be constantly growing in our Christ-likeness as well as our giftedness.
This leads to the subject of change. If we, as leaders, are going to lead others and ask them to allow God to change them, then we need to lead by example and allow God to change us. I will be talking about this in future blog posts, but the first step to change is taking responsibility. Show me someone that is blaming others for their actions or circumstances, and I will show you someone who is not ready for change.
If you find yourself needing to defend why you are in the situation you are in, or if you are blaming others for your shortcomings then you are showing God and others that you are not ready for Christ-like leadership.
This victim attitude leads to several other negative attitudes.
Stop. Be like Jesus.
Jesus took responsibility not only for His actions but for all of ours as well. Taking responsibility is the first sign of spiritual maturity. Stop blaming other people for your problems. Stop making excuses as to why you are in the place you are in. Start leading yourself. Taking responsibility is the first step.
Thanks to Ed Young!
It was great having Pastor Ed Young from Fellowship Church here at Celebration this past Monday. What an awesome conference and great attendance for a Monday leadership event. Ed and his wife Lisa taught so many great church leadership principles. Check out more of Ed’s stuff at creativepastors.com
Things you are able to do when you have momentum
Celebration Church has a ton of momentum right now. Momentum is what gives you the ability to do things like start 4 new services (at Midtown) from this past April thru July.
Our 2 main Sunday services were completely full so we added an 8:30 service and 2 services in the annex on Sunday and an additional Saturday night. Those 4 new services have over 1000 people attending them now - so what we were able to do is effectively free up 1000 seats from our 2 prime time Sunday services. The 10am has pretty much already filled back up but we do have room in the 11:30am to grow. Praise God! 11:30 is a little late for some people but it is just good to know that we have some room to grow over this next year as we begin to build our new sanctuary at Baymeadows Rd. and 9A.
Thanks to everyone reading. If you are one of the ones attending those 4 new services - you are doing the work of an evangelist and have freed up a seat for someone else to come into God’s kingdom!
I will also talk about some encouraging momentum updates from some of our other campuses next week.