Readers are Leaders

Last Tuesday I was sharing with my men's Bible study class that "Readers are Leaders". This is what my youth group leader told me 30 years ago. And it’s true.

Two days after I repeated these words to my class I was reading the book Axiom by Bill Hybels. In it he has a chapter titled “Read All You Can”. Here are some excerpts from that chapter:

“Leaders have a responsibility before God to constantly get better, and one of the most reliable ways to do so is to read. Great leaders read frequently. They read voraciously. They read classics and new releases. They soak up lessons from the military, from academia, from politics, from nongovernmental organizations, and from church leaders who are leading well. They refuse to let themselves off the hook in this regard, because they know that all great leaders read.”

“I have little patience with leaders who get themselves into leadership binds and then confess that they haven’t read a leadership book in years. If you’re a serious-minded leader, you will read. You will read all you can. You will read when you feel like it, and you will read when you don’t. You will do whatever you have to do to increase your leadership input, because you know as well as I do that it will make you better.”

So what are you waiting for? Pick up a good book and start reading!

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Sacrificial Leadership

Sacrifice is the down payment for leadership.

If you want to influence people and have them follow you with their hearts, they must see you lay down your life for them and the team.

In his book “Spiritual Leadership”, J. Oswald Sanders writes “To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay.” This is called sacrifice. Jesus said that in order to be his disciple one must sacrifice comfort, time, and family relationships (Luke 9:57-62). And leaders should be disciples that live at a higher standard. So what should our sacrifice look like?

Sanders continues “The world is run by tired men…Even Jesus grew weary in ministry and had to rest (John 4:6)…If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”

Some people want to circumvent the system – they want others to follow them before they have paid the price of sacrifice. That never works for long.

Let us become leaders who rise early, work and study hard, do the tough things others are unwilling to do, and then lead by example. Only then can we expect others to follow as we hold their feet to the fire, and say like Paul “join with me in suffering for the gospel” 2 Timothy 1:8
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What Price will You Pay

In his book Axiom, Bill Hybels describes the difference between a leader who is a hireling (a simple employee) of a vision and the one who owns the vision.

The hireling begins to choose a path self-service. The vision becomes more about him – his career, his fame, his job security and his success.

But the leader who owns a God-given vision is willing to pay any price to achieve it. Followers follow him to the extent that they feel he owns it – that his heart is in it and is willing to sacrifice for it.

Hybels writes that followers “will only sacrifice for the vision if you will. They will only take a bullet for the cause if they believe down to their toes that you would do the same.”

He then expresses what should be every leader’s prayer that believes God has given him a vision: “God...right here and right now, I tell you all over again that I will pay any price to achieve this vision so that someday, when I get to the finish line, I’ll be able to say with Paul that I fought the good fight.”

For our church, God has given us a collective vision – Vision 6:16 – six churches around metro Atlanta by 2016.

OWN THE VISION!
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Good Leaders Keep Growing

Have you heard that the human nose and ears never stop growing?

Well good leaders never stop growing either.

According to Bill Robinson, president of Whitworth University, good leaders “…develop the gifts God gave them. They hone and improve those gifts. They never stop learning how to use their gifts more effectively. And they change. They get better. And they get nervous at the first sign of stagnation.”

Are you developing the gifts Godhas given you? Are you reading, going to conferences, or listening to seminars about areas in of your life that grow you up and affect your ministry success? If not, you may be stagnant and wasting the gifts God has entrusted to you.

Paul wrote to Timothy “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:13 The scrolls and parchments were books – possibly Old Testament books, new Scriptures from other apostles, or other books that inspired him. The point is he wanted to keep reading and growing.

If you feel stagnant, I pray that you will get nervous about it and then do something about it. Leaders should “never stop learning… They get better.”

By the way, human noses and ears do stop growing, they simply lose their elasticity over time making them droop and look bigger.

Keep Growing!
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Passion

Do any you lack passion? At times I do. Life has a way of getting us down. But God gives us Hope and Passion.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Hope. That is what Isaiah’s prophecy is all about. Hope of God’s Son taking over as Ruler of the World. It will bring greater joy to the world than when Obama gave his victory speech in Chicago. Jesus Christ will rule as a “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Justice and righteousness will run through the streets forever.

What will ensure that this will happen? What will make this Hope a sure thing? "The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." According to dictionary.com “zeal” means enthusiasm, eager desire, intensity, and passion. So God’s “zeal” or passion will drive Him to make sure that our Dream and Hope of our "Wonderful Counselor" reigning will come true.

As I read this passage the other day, I simply began praying for passion in my life – passion for God and his things. He has passion and so should I. His passion will one day lead to my greatest hope becoming a reality – eternal life with my Savior. So my greatest gift that I can give God is to love Him and have a passion for the things He is passionate about.
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Heroes

I once had a friend named Ruben. While in school in an isolated stairwell, some guy threatened to beat up Ruben. I stood up for my friend and told the guy that if he touched my friend I would beat him up. I don't know where that bravery came from since I was not very tough nor brave. I guess I had a scary face that day. The guy left and my friend and I walked away with unblemished faces. I don't feel I was a hero, but my friend was grateful for my help.

Moses stood up for some people once also. In fact he stood up for about one million people and the one he stood up against was God.

So he [God] declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.

Psalms 106:23 NLT

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Moses could have simply let God destroy the people. The people mistreated Moses - constantly grumbling against him, slandering him, speaking of replacing him as their leader, and once even speaking of stoning him. I think Moses had every right to say, "Go ahead God. Destroy them because I'm also sick and tired of them. Whack them all."

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But a good leader stands up for his people, even when they are a pain in the neck. That's what Moses did and he was a real HERO.

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Burnout

We all experience stress - too much to do in too little time and usually without the proper resources. BURNOUT occurs when stress accumulates in us over time. Burnout affects our motivation and desire to keep striving towards the goals and ideals we once held onto so closely. Many times burnout leads to depression and a sense of hopelessness and helplessness.

Christian leader Mike Foster says "My biggest indicator of burnout is how I treat people...What's most unfortunate, and probably not a unique situation, is that I take out my stress on the people I love the most...my wife and kids..."

Many times we burnout because we are on the road to success. We are pursuing our dreams so fast and furiously that we don't see the "self-destruction" warning light blinking crazily on our dashboard. Pastor Wayne Cordeiro said of his burnout experience "Unknowingly, the road to success and the road to a nervous breakdown became the same road."

Burnout is caused by mismanaging our lives. We over commit to ourselves or others; we develop wrong priorities, or have no priorities at all; we allow ourselves to be pulled in 10 directions by the demands of others or our own internal demands.

One way to put the brakes on us spiraling into burnout is to manage our lives better. Start with making sure you are seeking God every morning. Do what Mary did.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:38-42

Spending time with Jesus every morning goes along way in reducing stress, getting our priorities straight, and reducing our burdens by casting our worries on him.

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalms 55:22

Healthy eating and a good exercise program also help reduce stress levels and prevent burnout. But start with the one thing Jesus said was needed - to sit at His feet and hear from him.

For more good help on overcoming burnout read "Mad Church Disease" by Anne Jackson.
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