Some time this week you should take a couple extra minutes on your drive from one place to the next to slow down and appreciate the amazing canvas God is painting all around us as summer fades into fall. Maybe it's because I have a fall birthday, or because I was a nerd and loved back-to-school time, but I absolutely love this season. Even though the colors indicate the dying of the leaves, it always feels like in fall I get to turn a new page, start fresh, and allow God to stir new perspective and thoughts in my heart.
Part of that process was the Catalyst Conference I attended a couple of weeks ago, but part of that seems to just be the natural rhythm of my life. I'm extremely energized by the opportunities God has set before me personally, and before us as a church. Every week it seems like a different person or family shows up at New Life searching for God, searching for purpose, searching for community, and every time they connect to us I can't help but be overwhelmed by the feeling that we are positioned exactly where God wants us to be.
Which is what makes our current series of messages so critical. As any church grows it becomes necessary for new people to step into the new leadership opportunities that are opening up. As we serve more people we need more people to serve - makes sense, right? But the most important thing is never the gifts or the talents of the people who lead and serve, the most important thing is always the heart of a servant; the heart of a person who is willing to lay down his or her life for the kingdom of God and the people God calls us to serve and lead.
My hope is that this series of messages results in each of us understanding that we are, in our own place and our own right, leaders regardless of how many people are following. But more importantly I hope that each of us will understand that as we lead we must serve. We cannot lead from a position or a title that allows us to wield our power and authority at the expense of the people God calls us to lead, but we have to be willing to use our power for the benefit of others. Primarily we have to be willing to use our influence, which is temporary, for the benefit of God's Kingdom and purposes in the world.
When we understand that we are just stewards of a temporary responsibility or position, then we manage it differently. It is no longer about us, our ego or our pride, but much more about God's purpose being accomplished in and through us. When that switch happens, we possess a greater courage and conviction in the direction that God calls us to walk. When it's not about me, my reputation, my popularity, or my likeability, all of a sudden God's glory comes into greater focus. And when it's about God's glory and Kingdom, then he is responsible for the success of the whole thing. What matters to me is that I would be a leader that God thinks is great, whether anyone on earth ever thinks of me that way or not. What matters to me is that we create a culture at New Life that values great servant leadership that advances God's agenda in the world.
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