Friday, January 27, 2006
BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE
My family and I are blessed beyond and above all measure in the name of Jesus, Amen. Speak it, write it and live it over your life today.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Band of Brothers Part 2...
Why Leaders Need a Band of Brothers
More than anyone else, leaders need authentic friendships. Not only are leaders in special need of accountability because of their position (James 3:1), but leaders need even more encouragement and support because of the difficulty of their work.
Leaders also need to be part of a shared mission. Your effectiveness as a leader will always be limited if you strike out on your own to do things by yourself. You need to learn to compromise, submit, and ally yourself with the mission of others. This is what it means to be the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12).
Biblically, God’s calling on you to be part of the body is equal to his calling on your life in your area of passion. There are things we learn by being in a team that we cannot learn any other way. And there are things that God does through us in a team that He will not do any other way.
It may be that God’s first call on your life as a leader is to bind yourself with other men, and then to pursue the passion He has given you. Most leaders do it the other way around. They have a dream from God and they pursue it above all else. If other men want to join them, fine. But if those men don’t agree or aren’t headed in the same direction on the same time frame then these leaders leave them behind without a thought.
The scriptures teach something else. The scriptures teach that we should work together as a body to help every Christian become mature in Christ. It’s almost certain that God won’t give you a dream without providing the context of relationships for it to be lived out.
Don’t abandon relationships quickly or easily. Perhaps God has things for you there that you won’t get anywhere else. Perhaps your ideas aren’t as good as you think. Perhaps you need to be on a different time table. Whatever the case, submit yourself to a band of brothers for the glory of God.
More than anyone else, leaders need authentic friendships. Not only are leaders in special need of accountability because of their position (James 3:1), but leaders need even more encouragement and support because of the difficulty of their work.
Leaders also need to be part of a shared mission. Your effectiveness as a leader will always be limited if you strike out on your own to do things by yourself. You need to learn to compromise, submit, and ally yourself with the mission of others. This is what it means to be the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12).
Biblically, God’s calling on you to be part of the body is equal to his calling on your life in your area of passion. There are things we learn by being in a team that we cannot learn any other way. And there are things that God does through us in a team that He will not do any other way.
It may be that God’s first call on your life as a leader is to bind yourself with other men, and then to pursue the passion He has given you. Most leaders do it the other way around. They have a dream from God and they pursue it above all else. If other men want to join them, fine. But if those men don’t agree or aren’t headed in the same direction on the same time frame then these leaders leave them behind without a thought.
The scriptures teach something else. The scriptures teach that we should work together as a body to help every Christian become mature in Christ. It’s almost certain that God won’t give you a dream without providing the context of relationships for it to be lived out.
Don’t abandon relationships quickly or easily. Perhaps God has things for you there that you won’t get anywhere else. Perhaps your ideas aren’t as good as you think. Perhaps you need to be on a different time table. Whatever the case, submit yourself to a band of brothers for the glory of God.
