4 posts tagged “leadership”

This time last year I was in the process of buying my first home.  To describe me as "overwhelmed" during that time is an understatement.  I was clueless about loans, insurance, inspections, and closings.  Through God's grace, I was able to buy the house and enjoy it over the past eleven months.  My parents did a ton of little repairs when I first moved in, and since that point, I've had to do very little.  However, this past tuesday, I experienced what owning a house often brings... plumbing problems!  One of my sinks decided it was not going to drain properly, so I set out to become "Rhodes, the Roto Rooter."  My first step was to call my dad.  Yep, I'm 25 and not ashamed to admit that I need dad's help.  I'd be dumb not to call a man that can fix everything.  You know when you're a kid and you think your dad can do everything.  Well, that thought for me never changed.  My dad is awesome!  I've called him at least a dozen times since saturday.  (My lawn mower broke saturday then the sink stopped up tuesday.)  Anyway, I call dad first, and he gave me several options.  Options 1,2, and 3 did not work, so I'm currently on option 4.  Option 4 is using a plumbing snake, and frankly, I've yet to fix the problem!  But I'm not going to give up yet.

One of my favorite words to use is "intentional."  It's a word that describes the actions and words of someone with a purpose.  Oftentimes, I find myself telling others, especially college and high school students, to be intentional with their time, their conversations, their actions, their time on Facebook, and life in general.  It's not only an encouragement that I give to others, but it's also a challenge for myself.  I'm constantly telling my leaders to be intentional with their conversations at Crash and One, middle school and high school youth group respectively, and other youth events.

When I was in high school, our youth ministry did a sports camp for the children in our community.  We taught basketball and soccer to 1st-6th graders.  Due to my inability to play soccer, I taught b-ball all week.  At one point during the week a young kid walked up to me and asked me why I wore the type of socks that I was wearing.  Quick sock background:  Before ankle socks became the craze, I rocked them!  Yes, I am stepping out and saying that I was part of a trend before it was trendy.  It is a rare occasion for me to be associated with any type of trendy clothing.  Unless an old t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops become trendy, my style will rarely reflect "new, cool, or trendy."  Anyway, I rocked the ankle socks because I was a golfer.  You see my life revolved around golf during the summer.  Well, you can't really play golf without shoes, so the summer tan line was absolutely ridiculous to say the least.  I chose to wear ankle socks, so my tan line didn't come halfway up my leg.  Back to the story... so this kid questions sock choice, I explained the reason why I wore them and thought nothing of it until a week later.  The kid's mom came up to my mom at church the following Sunday and proceeded to tell my mom that her son had come in from playing basketball one afternoon after camp with his long socks pushed down into his shoes.  She asked him why he was doing something like that, and he said, "That's how Michael wears his socks."  Wow!  I influenced a kid's choice of socks!  

    We've all heard the statement in the church world and Christian circles that says, "It's not about me."  I've read it a lot.  I've heard it said a lot.  And I've said it a lot.  However, it's often a hard thing to live out in my walk with Christ and in my ministry.  I believe that this life is all about God's glory.  We are blessed with love, life, and grace that can only come from God, and these blessings happen in order for us to make His Name known to the nations.  Psalm 67 demonstrates this truth so beautifully.   Throughout all of scripture we see that God has a desire to bless us.  Now, that thought in and of itself is completely selfish if we were to leave it alone; however, if we were to add something to it, it would communicate a truth seen throughout all of the Bible:  God has a desire to bless us, so His glory, passion, and Word will be known among the nations.  I can't sit here, type this, and take credit for that statement.  It's in the Word of God; furthermore, it was pointed out to me by Dr. David Platt, one of my favorite seminary professors that I only had two class periods with due to Hurricane Katrina.  Two lectures changed my thinking and the way I view life.  One of the most profound yet simple statements Dr. Platt made the first day of class was "We (humans) are NOT the object of Christianity.  God is ("I AM")! 
    Being in a leadership position, especially in ministry, can cause us to make ourselves the object of Christianity.  We have the potential to get angry when people question our motives.  We have the potential to get frustrated when things don't go our way.  We have the potential to beat ourselves up when criticism arrives.  We have the potential to be completely insecure about our leadership capabilities.  We have the potential to experience all these negative emotions if and only if the object of our faith becomes ourselves.  Frustrations, anger, and insecurities come from a life with self as the object of faith:  "I'M frustrated because these people won't follow MY lead.  Nobody can follow MY lead.  I'M not good at what I do."  These statements are so selfish, and they do not reflect a life devoted to God's glory or a real understanding of a believer's identity in Christ.  My challenge to myself and to all of us as ministers of the gospel is to make the "I Am" the object of our faith and ministries rather than ourselves.  Is your life centered around yourself?  Is your ministry centered around yourself?  Do you take criticism as a direct reflection of you?  Do you get easily frustrated when people question you?  Do you realize how God truly views you?  Are you doing your job for God's glory or your glory?  Honestly, there are so many days that I want to be the object of Christianity, but I must constantly remind myself that it's all I AM.