Healthy Leadership and the High Cost of Caring
Learn to delegate to others whenever, wherever, and however it is appropriate. Some of the most secure leaders I know are the ones who can let their ministry go and who are comfortable having strong, anointed people around them. Moses heeded his father-in-law’s advice (Exodus 18) and surrounded himself with able leaders. Does it really matter if someone else can preach a better sermon, teach a better Sunday school class, write a better book, lead better worship, do a better job counseling a parishioner? Hopefully not! Good leaders produce followers. Great leaders produce other leaders. But, the greatest of leaders understand what it means to become a follower again. The important thing is that the Kingdom of God wins.
Learn the value of authentic relationship and find one or two key people in your life to be accountable to. Someone once told me that accountability was the breakfast of champions, but that too many people skipped the most important meal of the day. Isolation and the lack of accountability is, in my opinion, the primary strategy that Satan uses to take down a leader—“walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Whenever we are alone (in reality or perception) and cut off from supportive relationships, we are the most vulnerable. We do not necessarily need more “yes men.” Most leaders already have their share of them—good people, prayer warriors, faithful, and loyal to be sure—but we also need “truth-tellers” in our life. These are individuals who also love us, are safe, and we can count on them to give honest, direct, and transparent feedback. However, we must give these individuals permission and an open invitation to do so. The spiritual landscape is littered with leaders who have failed to embrace this truth. Look at the foresight of the wisest man who lived. In 1 Kings 4:1-19, we see a wide-ranging list of Solomon’s officials (priests, scribes, recorders, military commanders, projects managers, governors, and the like). Yet, imbedded in this list, is a priest named Zabud, who is also described as the “King’s friend” (vs. 5). Here was Solomon, apparently with the wisdom to have at least one person on his staff who also served in the capacity of friend. Who is your Zabud? If you do not have one, may I encourage you to find one. Better yet, consider being a Zabud to another leader.
Christian leadership is a high and sacred calling—to humbly, yet transparently represent Christ as His ambassadors to a lost and hurting world. This is the ministry of reconciliation and from the perspective of the Apostle Paul, “…as though God were pleading through us [emphasis mine]: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). In order to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1), we must be deliberate when it comes to our own self-care. Only then can we put on the compassion of Christ and consistently manifest His grace, truth, and love to all who so desperately need His touch. May you have true joy in the journey.
PR
Notes
1 Hans Selye, The Stress of Life, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956).
2 Archibald Hart and Catherine Hart Weber, Caring for People God’s Way: Personal and Emotional Issues, Addictions, Grief, and Trauma (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005), p. 164-165.
3 American Institute on Stress http://www.stress.org/
4 American Heart Association http://www.americanheart.org
5 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/
6 Charles Figley, Treating Compassion Fatigue, (New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2002).
Category: Fall 2011, Ministry, Pneuma Review
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