What Every Leader Needs #2: Follow Through

  *A blog series on what ever leader needs to be effective in serving Christ*

I enjoy playing golf. I do not play a whole lot but when I do it is a lot of fun! Golf is the most difficult sport known to man (in my opinion). The goal is to hit a small white ball into a 4 1/4 inch hole in the ground from hundreds of yards away. Follow through, especially in the swing is important. I'm always reminding myself to make sure I not only start the swing right, but follow through right. The follow through is what helps guide my swing pattern that ultimately helps the ball fly straight (at least that is what I try to do!). Usually when I slice or hook the ball I freeze my swing at the end and realize that my follow through was off! (along with other problems too). My goal then is to start swinging with a correct follow through to hit it straight.

Follow through is important in leadership to build trust and respect. How many people respect leaders who say they will do something and do not follow through with it? Now, we all forget and make mistakes, especially as leaders. There are huge amounts of pressure on leaders in ministry. Many times the expectation is perfection. People usually will not come out and say it, but there is an "invisible pedestal" that leaders in ministry face. As leaders the goal is to fear God and not man. What this does not mean is that we dislike people! I'm amazed at times at those who decide to go into a profession that mainly deals with people (ministry, teaching especially) and continually complain about people. I know I am guilty of it. But the truth is, we are called to love people. We are called as leaders to follow through with our everyday calling to love people.

We need to follow through with what we say we will do. We need to set an example with how we use our words. Many times I have failed in this area and have either forgotten a commitment I made or used my words in a hurtful way. What I'm realizing more and more is that our culture is filled with leaders who say one thing (especially politicians) and do another. Why is this the case? Should leaders in the church be different? I say, yes!

Are we so "busy" that we do not realize the power of words? I'm not sure I have the answer but one thing I do realize is that there are plenty of students I serve that have not seen many examples of what it means to follow through with commitment. Every leader needs a commitment to simply do what they say they will do. Whenever we make a statement, we need to take into account those who are listening and add value to their life by following through! When a leader follows through it builds trusting relationships and fruitfulness in leadership. Lastly, why is it important today? Because the greatest leader (Jesus!) followed through in everything!

^"Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very  natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8

What Every Leader Needs #1: Faithfulness

*A blog series on what ever leader needs to be effective in serving Christ* It is amazing how important the little things are in life. I remember being a child and my Dad was teaching me how to make a "right-handed" layup on the basketball court. I was already good at the left-handed layup (because I'm left-handed) and became so angry that I could not get it! My Dad pushed me every afternoon to learn to make it because it would matter one day when I played huge defenders. I thought, "you know what, I can just do it my way and only shoot one way." As I continued to play I quickly figured out that I was starting to get blocked because I shot the wrong way. I became more driven to learn it and finally after a few months of practice I could make the shot on both sides. I learned that being faithful in the little things, I could one day play college basketball.

Why is this faithfulness in the little things important? Faithfulness is a running track towards being like Christ. The more faithful we are by obeying His Word and living it, the quicker we grow into Christ-likeness.

Faithfulness matters more than being famous. Jesus pointed this at many points in His ministry. Little things in life include, finances, attitude, thought life, hobbies and more. For those who are followers of Christ, we are called to be faithful in all areas of our life. Why? Because Jesus did. We follow Him.

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities." Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Jesus is in the middle of explaining the the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. The overarching theme of Luke 16 is to be faithful in the little things.

I am concerned about in the coming years is that the church is becoming more of a business than a ministry. We see it in how my generation is quickly moving towards "environments" and "quick-help-sermons" rather than doing the hard work of teaching the truth of sin, salvation and repentance. I've made a decision to never let the culture water down the raw truth of the gospel. It is not "comfortable" and easy to digest no matter how amazing the environments we create. Environments and creativity are crucial but without being faithful to God in the small things it can all come crumbling down.

We need more men to be faithful to their wives. We need more men to be faithful in the way they treat their family. We need more men to lead their family to live the gospel. We need less focus upon what we can do and more focus upon what Christ has already done through the cross! Jesus was faithful in the little things. He was pure, gracious, firm on truth, courageous, honest, forgiving, loving and faithful!

I sure need His strength to be faithful! How about you?

Humility > Pride

"As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died." Galatians 6:14 (NLT)

Human pride leads people to defy God. Proverbs 16:18 says,  ^“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”

Pride is interconnected with rebellion. Rebellion means that we know better than authority. Rebellion is telling God that we know better than He does. Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished.

•   Pride affects what we worship. When we are the center of our own universe, all efforts lead to making ourselves look good. Pride leads people to use social networking to be accepted. We fit a music genre to life and then start conforming to the look, attitude and actions of the music. The issue arises when we find our identity and value within a sub-culture like a music genre. Instead we should be focused on our value and identity being in Christ. Working with students I have seen this happen quite often. Whatever the "flavor of the day" is on the menu in a student's life, many times they will become what they fill their minds with on a daily basis. It is not a matter of "if' people worship, but "what" they worship.

•   Pride affects how we worship. Pride leads people to use technology to be noticed. We have all seen the Internet used to hurt people, to bring them down. I have also seen the Internet used for great good. I have seen people come to know Christ through using the Internet as a tool for the gospel. The important aspect to realize is that anything can be a tool to bring God glory or to draw attention to self. Pride draws the attention away from God who desires all of our praise and honor. "God opposes the proud but favors the humble." James 4:6

Humility draws people to an understanding of Christ as pride focused upon what we can do on our own. Without the love and grace of Jesus, I am nothing. I'm far from truly understanding the grace that I've been given, but I sure want too.