MondayMorningInsight - Leadership & Encouragement for Church Leaders

You Know You’re Not Leading When…

Posted by: Todd
Posted on: Mon, September 22, 2008
Viewed 64
(12) comments so far

--You wait for someone to tell you what to do rather than taking the initiative yourself

--You spend too much time talking about how things should be different

--You blame the context, surroundings, or other people for your current situation

--You choose not to speak the truth in love

--You are more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing

--You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future

--You aren’t taking any significant risks

This is just part of Jon’s list. You’ll want to check out the others here at his blog, Viscosity...

Here's part of a great post by Jon Ferguson from Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL. He writes, "Ever catch yourself not leading? Of course you have. When I find myself not leading the way I believe God has called me to lead, I ask myself, "What does it look like for me to really be a leader in this situation? Maybe this will help you know when you are slipping a little bit. You know you are not leading when...

Comments

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Steve on Wed, January 09, 2008

I just read this little excerpt and I must say I agree with it wholeheartedly! I’m going over to the site now to read the rest of it! I can relate with that very profoundly and I must say a definite pinup for all leaders to keep reminding themselves!
Jade on Tue, January 15, 2008

Really good!
Peter Hamm on Mon, September 22, 2008

[You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future]

I’ve seen this totally paralyze a lot of churches. GREAT list!
John Chiara on Mon, September 22, 2008

Sometimes contex, surroundings and other people make for an impossible situation
Kevin Connell on Mon, September 22, 2008

I thought I read this on Jon Fergusons Blog last year???
John Chiara on Mon, September 22, 2008

I probably shouldn’t comment on Mondays
CS on Mon, September 22, 2008

“You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future”

There’s a balance between seeking wisdom in the presence of many counselors (Proverbs 11:14, 15:22, 24:6) and not taking initiative (Proverbs 6:6-8). If you’re waiting around for a group of disparate people to make a decision to take action, it can be just as bad as charging headlong without thought.

I just wish we’d use a different word than, “vision,” to describe things, because then Proverbs 29:18 gets taken out of context to justify things.

—

CS
Leonard on Mon, September 22, 2008

When you cannot stick with one plan for more than a few moments and you end up like the last book you read.
Bruce Cox on Tue, September 23, 2008

just out for a walk i suppose… ouch.
Jan on Tue, September 23, 2008

LOL Leonard! I’ve definitely known some ministries like that.
Justin on Tue, September 23, 2008

I have a suggestion to add to the list: You find yourself working in an unhealthy church with a long history of being unhealthy; you are praying, teaching, preaching, mentoring, and visiting; you cast vision and lead in a context in which it feels as if it might be easier to herd cats; you work to develop leaders and reach out to the community, even when those who want to engage the community seem hard to come by; you take even small risks, and a family leaves when you don’t have that many families to lose…

And you find yourself looking to a bulleted list on a blog for guidance on how to lead.

Maybe I had too much caffeine this morning.
deaubery on Thu, September 25, 2008

justin, god puts strong men in hard places, and there is no reason that your church should not change for the better, rounding up cats is a hard job, only the holy spirit can do that , so read matthew 18:19 gods word is true it will never fail if we ask in faith,we could work in our own efforts until we drop and get very little done, but the holy spirit can work so smoooothe, he can make you look good with no effort on your part but believing god for whatever you need or the people need, our long drawnout prayers just dont get it very much,i have heard people pray so lone they weary me, and nothing happened, they was just praying or maybe it was complaining just to look spiritual, so my advice on the matter is find someone that can agree with you and god will surelly do it.