Oct
29
Written by:
jimwideman
10/29/2009 12:46 AM
8. Leaders bear fruit and grow spiritually.
Leaders carry more responsibility than followers, and face greater challenges. They have to handle extra stress, extra work, and make do with less than they sometimes they wish they had. Those aren’t ideal conditions for growing.
If you want to experience growth and bear fruit while you’re a leader, I suggest you eliminate three poisons that tend to creep into leaders’ lives. They are:
Envy
Those of us who minister to children can experience envy with the best of them. We look at our budget and compare it to what the youth ministry gets. We notice we’re spending more hours at the church than the Senior Pastor, and wonder why we’re not cashing a larger paycheck every Friday. We size up how much influence we have when it’s time to remodel the church building compared to the rest of the staff.
And this isn’t just a twinge of jealousy we feel. Jealousy means I want what you have. Envy means I want you to lose what you have so I can have it. And if there’s just so much influence and money to go around, then you’ve got to lose some of yours so I can have it. It’s envy—and it’s poison.
When we envy what others have we undermine teamwork. We don’t step up and provide help. We let others go down in flames at board meetings so we look better—and we can increase our influence.
Has envy crept into your life or ministry?
Strife and quarreling
I know children’s workers who speak poorly of their fellow staff members. They gossip and backbite. They talk to lots of people, but never to the person they’re talking about.
The day you hear yourself talking about “us” and “them” when you’re referring to other members of your church, you’re in trouble. There is no “us” and “them”—there’s just “us.” We’re one body so we’ve got to get along.
Like it or not, you’re working along side of other staff members at your church. Resolve conflicts, don’t gossip or harbor your anger.
Are you quarreling with other leaders? Experiencing strife?
Division
How you work alongside—and for—other leaders is a hallmark of your leadership. Have you taken conflicts that should have stayed behind closed doors and shared them with others? Always be on the lookout for division. How can you repair any divisiveness you’ve created?
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