The reality is that leading a church is no different than leading a business, a community, a non-profit or even a family. All of these require a leader and all leadership comes with PRESSURE and RESPONSIBILITY.
Who's calling the shots? Well, at the end of the day, the leader has to be the one to put his/her neck on the line. At the end of the day, the leader is responsible.
However, the way I see leadership responsibility is that I'm merely a steward...not an owner. God owns the church. It belongs to Him. I'm merely a steward...someone who is watching over something for someone else. That someone just happens to be Jesus.
I'm called to take care of what belongs to Him. When I began to understand that the church belonged to Him and I was merely a steward...it changed the way I saw my role.
Stewardship is a powerful Kingdom concept! Just think about it...God entrusts us with His church! He trusts us to lead it as He would. He believes in us enough to give us this opportunity. WOW...God is amazing.
When you think about the term STEWARDSHIP...it covers a broad scope. We may be given leadership oversight in various areas, including time management, educational development, leading a team, managing money, and more.
If we are stewards...how should we "stew?"
1. Don't hold on too tight. If we have too firm of a hold on what He's entrusted us with, we'll forget who actually owns it.
2. Remember your place. God owns the church and it's people. Remembering that not only frees you...it's also very important.
3. Give credit where credit is due. At the end of the day, God gets the glory...not you.
4. Focus on other people. Look for ways to help other people succeed in their dreams.
5. Lead wherever, whenever and however. It's not my job to build a "movement" it's my job to lead one if God sees fit.
6. Have a right appraisal. I'm not the reason for the mission and the vision of the church or for any group I'm leading. The people I serve are.
7. Realize that you're replaceable. I'm not the first and I definitely won't be the last. Someone was doing this before I arrived and someone will be doing it after me. I have to have a good understanding of my role in the generational impact chain.
8. Be an includer, not an excluder. Just think of the fun it is for the entire team to win...versus just one person winning. A steward realizes that there must be partnership and collaboration in order to achieve success. One way to see if your church is speaking an "inclusive" language is to gauge it by what I call "The Family Language." Everyone at our church should be saying "OUR" not "YOUR." The word "WE" has to replace the word "I."
Stewards are entrusted with great responsibility. Imagine carrying an egg in your hand all week. Knowing how fragile the egg is, you would use great caution in how you carried it. The same goes with ministry. We must exercise extreme caution in how we carry it...to avoid cracks and fractures.
Jesus has entrusted us with the ministry and has seen fit to place us in it. As you serve in your perspective area...remember who actually owns the position you serve in. Respect it. Treat it with honor and remember it's a great privilege to serve in any position in the Kingdom.
More to say on this...
Stewards are entrusted with great responsibility. Imagine carrying an egg in your hand all week. Knowing how fragile the egg is, you would use great caution in how you carried it. The same goes with ministry. We must exercise extreme caution in how we carry it...to avoid cracks and fractures.
Jesus has entrusted us with the ministry and has seen fit to place us in it. As you serve in your perspective area...remember who actually owns the position you serve in. Respect it. Treat it with honor and remember it's a great privilege to serve in any position in the Kingdom.
More to say on this...
