- The most important contributing factor to ministries that have “IT” is that it’s lead by leaders that have “IT.”
- It requires leaders who are transparent before God.
How many of you occasionally or often feel overwhelmed, stress, feel like ministry can be a burden, etc?
How many of you would say there was a time in your past that you were closer to God than you are today?
- A time when you were more passionate about God’s Word.
- A time when you were more prayerful.
- You were more excited about sharing your faith.
- More excited about the Church – not the organization, the numbers, etc.
- You felt like God was speaking to you more clearly, better led by the Spirit.
Every leadership principle we talk about doesn’t matter unless we get our life with God in order.
- Genesis 31:43-44
- “What can I do today?”
- What is God calling you to do?
I will do today what I can do, to enable me to do tomorrow what I can’t do today.
- Too many young leaders are trying to do too much too soon.
- We have to be faithful with what we’ve got right now.
Four Things To Do Today
1 – Do something to defeat your dark side.
- All of us have a dark side… something that’s not pleasing to God, something that’s a hindrance to us moving forward.
- Ask God to search you and show you what your dark side is.
- One of the the healthiest things you can do for your spiritual life is identifying what your dark side is.
- In ministry we’re far too often worried about what people think about us instead of what God thinks.
- You will never become all God created you to be when you worry about what other people think about you.
- Buried within your dark side may be one of the greatest strengths of your ministry… if you will acknowledge your dark side and do something about it.
2 – Create artificial ministry deadlines.
- You will never be done with your work, EVER.
- You can always do more.
- The problem with ministry today is that we don’t care but that we care so much that we are hurting ourselves.
- We sacrifice our own families and relationship with God to do something that makes little impact.
- Craig commits to leaving the office by 3:45 each day. Not because he’s done, but it makes him sharper all day long. Makes him delegate what he’d normally do. Forces him to make fast decisions. Causes him to ignore what’s not important. Creates faster decisions.
- When you are walking by the Spirit, you can make quick, coin toss decisions.
- We usually end up doing tomorrow what we could have decided today.
- Artificial deadlines force you to make faster decisions.
- Meetings are the biggest hindrance to productivity.
- They cut their meetings in half.
- Instead of spending so much time working IN the church, they were able to work ON the church.
- Ministry will kill your relationship with God if you let it.
- “the way I was doing the work of God was killing the work of God in me.” – Hybels
3 – Delegate what someone else can do.
- Every time you commit to doing something new, decide what you’re going to give away.
- We accumulate work.
- We ask, “Can I?” instead of, “should I?”
- We are the worst delegators.
- Don’t delegate responsibilities. Delegate authority.
- Delegating responsibilities creates followers.
- Delegating authority creates leaders.
- We oftentimes delegate tasks… we’re telling people to not be creative.
- The stupidest thing you can do is micromanage.
- Give people the chance to lead.
- A great leader is not marked by what they know but how much the right people know.
- You’d be wise to write down the three things only you can do and give everything else on your list away.
- Your capacity to lead is marked by how much you’re willing to give away.
- GIVE IT AWAY. CREATE. DELEGATE.
- “If someone can do it 80% as good as you can, give it to them…” – Maxwell
4 – Do something only you can do.
- Husbands, you are the only one who should be a husband to your wife.
- Wives, you are the only person who should be a a wife to your husband.
- Design your ministry around your values.
- Do not sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry.
- Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28
- REST… not rush, anxiety, tension, pressure, worry, fear… REST for your souls.
- Some of us don’t even know what REST is.
- We oftentimes do ministry like God doesn’t even exist.
- We become full-time pastors and part-time followers of Christ.
- It’s not that we don’t believe, it’s that we’re not believing today.
- Don’t think about a single leadership principle until you’ve looked into the mirror at your spiritual life.
Are you OK with the fact that you are overwhelmed and stressed when Jesus said His yolk is easy and His burden is light?
Are you OK with the fact that the ‘other person’ in your life is the Church?
