Potential

Here's a valuable leadership principle. It's not original with me but worth sharing. Don't promote potential, develop it. If we promote a person with potential before they have developed character to back it, it could prove to be disastrous for all parties involved. However, if we will take the time to develop potential in people our organizations will be stronger and healthier in the long run there will be fewer casualties of war:) Look for potential and take the time to develop it!

Leadership Lessons From Saul - part 2

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

In 1 Samuel 10 the prophet of God points to a catalytic event in Saul's life as an up and coming leader. In a private ceremony, Samuel anointed Saul with oil and told him that he had been chosen by the Lord to lead Israel. Wow! Before sending Saul on his way, Samuel gives him a prophetic word and through this word Saul is told that when he would arrive in Gibeah, he would meet a group of prophets and the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him in POWER and he would begin to prophesy with them (something I'm fairly sure Saul had never done before) and in that moment, he would be CHANGED into a different person. Wow!

In verse 1 Saul is anointed with oil to signify that he has been chosen by God to lead. But in verse 6 he is anointed with the Holy Spirit and this makes all the difference. With this anointing would come power and a transformed life. Here's the thing...yes, Saul was a head taller than anyone else in Israel BUT he was not capable, in the natural, of succeeding in this role, apart from the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Jesus, after giving his disciples the all-important mission of reaching the world with the gospel, tells them to return to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. This gift would come a power that would allow them to do things that they would not otherwise be able to do.

Even Jesus experienced this anointing. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that as soon as Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. In His own words Jesus would later say that this anointing empowered Him to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, heal the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

There's a supernatural element to leadership that I think we often overlook. Sure, the world is full of great leaders but it's the leaders who are anointed with the Holy Spirit that are positioned to make the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God. They have been empowered; they have been changed. In fact, they're of a different breed; a supernatural breed.

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

Forgettable

As a preacher and leader I have this battle that wages within my heart. As a servant of Christ I want to be humble and give God all the glory and yet this sick part of me wants people to think I'm great and pat me on the back and tell me, "Good job!" It's ugly, I hate it and it's called pride. All that being said, I'm confident that God is working me over. Every day He is teaching me what it means to decrease so He can increase. Read this poem that came my way today. It spoke to me. And if you know me, you know that for me to share a poem it has to be good:)

Forgettable

Every day of my life, pride and I fight a war
God supplies me a little, but I grab for more
Tempted by popularity, glory, and gold
I place myself in the spotlight, and shove God out the door

But the strongest desire of my heart is to die
And no longer preach one thing and then live a lie
I must humbly submit my will daily to Christ
Turn the spotlight away and make this my heart's cry

When I pass through may my name be forgot
May the words I have spoke be as though I have not
I will plan every step so in all that I do
Jesus, none will see me,
But see through me to you

-Darin McWatters

Excuse Me?

I'm now cooled down so I think I can write without being an angry blogger:)

It all started when I tried to open up a new money market account with a bank that I will not mention. We sold our house and I want to park that money and some other savings until I need them. Before they would open the account they needed me to send them a copy of my wife's driver's license via fax or snail mail. Well I don't have a fax machine so I asked if I could scan it and send it via email. At first I was told yes but later I was told that was against their POLICY to accept verification through email. Only fax or hard copy would suffice. I went round and round with two reps and a supervisor until I saw that I was getting nowhere.

Here's my beef and the reason I share is that I think there is big time application for the church as well. I understand the need for stinkin' policy but when your policy hand ties your ability to fulfill the mission of your organization, something needs to change. Out of a desire to stay true to the "policy" this supervisor was willing to lose thousands of dollars. Somewhere along the line it was communicated to her that keeping company policy was more important than the mission. Somewhere along the line she forget that her primary purpose was to establish relationships with new customers so that they would open new accounts and invest tons of money with their bank. That's the purpose of a bank. When bad policy trumps an organization's purpose someone needs to change.

Whether it's a bank or a church, policy should never hinder your ability to fulfill your mission. In my book, mission trumps policy every time! It's all about the mission!

I feel much better now:)

Always Learning

I wanted to share two things I'm implementing in an effort to become a better leader. First of all, my friend Christy set me up with an excel spreadsheet (I love spreadsheets) that helps to track and manage the plethora of projects I lead and oversee at any given time. With this spreadsheet I'm able to name the project, the ministry it relates to, the point leader I'm dealing with and the most important thing is that I can update it regularly as a reminder of where that project is at all times. For far too long I used to keep it in my head and I was finding that my memory wasn't as reliable as it needed to be. This simple piece of paper brings a since of peace. Thanks Christy!

The second idea that I'm implementing is one that sounds simple but I'm certain it will save me valuable time. My plan is that instead of responding to email as they come throughout the day, I will check it at appointed times throughout the day: first thing in the morning, again at lunch and then once before I leave the office. This will be hard but I think it will make me far more efficient.

Leadership Lessons: Part 3

Yesterday, as I continued my personal study on Biblical leadership, I found a valuable lesson arise from the first chapter of Joshua. I was so inspired I sent out an email to my staff and youth coaches hoping to encourage them. I'd like to share some of what I shared with them.

The lesson: It is vitally important that leaders both know and live out the Word of God.

In Joshua chapter 1, Moses has recently died and God tells Joshua that he is going to lead the Israelites to take hold of the land that God had promised them. I want you to listen to what God tells Joshua, as he begins this incredible task of leading people. He says, "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:6-9)

We all want our ministry to be successful but from what I gather, God tells Joshua that success is his IF he will be careful to follow the scriptures. I share this with you because in some way or another, God has put you in a position of influence. Therefore it will be important that you too are careful to obey the Word and not stray to the right or left. When it comes to leadership, obedience is a big thing. If you get time this week, read Joshua chapter 7. It's a prime example of what happens when sin and disobedience are allowed to creep in. Success if removed:(

Keep up the good work and while you're at, keep your nose in the book. It will be vitally important that you not only know the word but that you live it out in obedience.

Leadership Lessons: Part 2

I recently read about an undercover exploration gone bad. It was when the Israelites were on the verge of taking Canaan and they sent out a team of spies to check things out. Moses sends twelve men into Canaan to scout out the land and the people. What they see over the course of forty days intimidates the majority. Ten of the twelve spies come back with a pessimistic attitude. Not only do they tell Moses things look bad, they spread that negativity among the people. Not good!

Caleb and Joshua, however, believed the Lord could bring victory and wanted to push forward.

The sad result...God forces the Israelites to wander the desert for forty years and most of the group would die without ever seeing the Promised Land.

The lessons I take from this story:

1. The majority is not always right. If there had been a board meeting before leaving Canaan, and the topic was, "Do we go for it?", Joshua and Caleb would have out-voted when they shouted, "Certainly!" If when they returned home, they called a community meeting and talked it over with the people, the resulting vote would have found them in the minority; but they would have been right.
   
   
2. You better have the right people in decision making positions. The problem I see is that the team had too many weak links, spiritually speaking. What impressed God about Caleb (and for that matter, Joshua) is that he had a different spirit about him and he served God wholeheartedly. I couldn't help but to wonder how things would have been different had all twelve selected spies had this same devotion to the Lord? Could they have avoided forty years of desert living?
   
   If the church is observant, we learn the value of placing people in positions of leadership who are wholehearted in their devotion to the Lord; people who will make decisions and lead in the Spirit and not the flesh.
   

Leadership Lessons: Part 1

I've decided to devote some of my personal study time to examining biblical leadership. I long to be the best leader I can be and to help others grow in that area along the way. I thought I might share some of my leadership lessons as I journey through my study.

I'll start with what I like to call the Jethro Principle. If you read Exodus 18 in the Old Testament you find Moses (the leader of the Israelite people at the time) killing himself in the name of ministry. From sun up to sun down he found himself settling disputes among the people and helping them to determine God's will for their lives. All good things, but he was spreading himself dangerously thin.

Enter stage left - Jethro, Moses' father-in-law. He quickly sees what Moses is doing and says, "This is not good. It's not good for you and it's not good for the people." Jethro instructs Moses to begin delegating some of the work load. Moses was advised to select capable (that's a key word) men who could begin to lighten the load. They would take care of the bulk of the work and Moses would settle only the big issues. In verse 23 Jethro tells Moses, "If you do this...you will be able to stand the strain."

In case you haven't figured it out yet, ministry is very strenuous and I see far too many church leaders who are killing themselves in the name of ministry. They're working all day, every day at the sacrifice of their family and overall health. A lot of this has to do with the nature of their job. They realize that eternity is on the line, lives are on the line, marriages are on the line and they feel this incredible pressure to do all they can, when they can and therefore many feel as if they're chasing their tails.

The other cause I find at work in the church is the unrealistic expectations for pastors and church leaders. In all too many churches, pastors are expected to be at every hospital call, every church event, every service and in turn the leader feels spread very thin and frankly, "good for nothing". They're burning it at both ends all in the name of ministry.

And if Jethro were around today he would probably stand up and say, "Wait a minute! What you are doing is not good."

Allow me to speak to two groups of people as I'm certain both groups are readers of An Open Doerr:

Pastors & Church Leaders
Learn to delegate portions of your ministry to capable leaders and begin to share the load. You can't be super pastor and besides, you're killing your health and your family in the process. Not only will this free you up to do the most important things and the things you're good at, you'll also be investing in other leaders and therefore allowing them to blossom in their new found role. Ephesians 4:12 says our work is to prepare God's people for works of service, not to do it all ourself. Begin to embrace the Jethro principle.

The Church
Re-examine the expectations you have for your pastor(s). Are they legitimate? Are they realistic? This may help. Consider the needs of your family on a personal level. Now multiply those needs times the size of your respective church - 100, 250, 500, etc. Is it realistic to believe this one person (and remember they are only human) can legitimately meet the spiritual and emotional needs of that many people? Let me put it another way. There's no reason your pastor should have to take his only day off to make his fourth hospital call of the week, all the while folding Sunday's bulletin in the passenger seat:) Give him a break. Help your pastor. Here's an idea. Ask him what consumes the bulk of his week and see if there is any way you and others can lighten his load.

Before you think I'm griping, allow me to say that God has blessed me during the two ministries that I've had. Both Antioch and Greenville seem to get it. I never had unrealistic expectations placed on me at AMCC and I don't feel them present at GCC. I consider myself blessed in this regards but feel obligated to speak up as I see too many minister friends killing themselves for the sake of ministry. It's time that we all see the value of the Jethro principle.