lessons on leading

So the other night a bunch of us went to dinner. Afterwards we planned to go to this party that Mary told us about... she said it was on Allison Ave but didn't know how to get there. I said, "oh! i know exactly where that is, its in my neighborhood!" So since we had like 20 other people that wanted to go with us to the party I just told everyone to follow me.

We drove down Allison Ave looking for the house number and soon hit a dead end with out having found the right house. So me, in my flustered-ness made a U-turn in the middle of the street. 20 cars behind me made a U-turn in the middle of the street. So then we saw that Allison Ave actually continued on in another direction, so we followed that one, looking down that street. It wasn't there either, more U-turns. hahahah the stream of headlights was just hilarious driving all around my neighborhood.

We hit a few more dead-ends and ended up loosing more than half the group before we actually found the party.

That night I lead people astray.

So at church and in my job i have been placed in a position of leadership. I feel weird being a "leader" i don't know... i know ive been a leader in ministry before for people younger than me. But now i am leading people in their 20's like me.

Craig Strickland, our senior pastor has offered to mentor me in leadership. That is huge! I feel honored and privledged to learn from such a great leader like him... but I also feel scared when I think of this verse: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." ~ Luke 12:48 I've been given so much by being offered this mentorship.

Sometimes doubt creeps in though. What if I fall, what if I fail, what if I lead people astray?

That night I learned a lesson about leading...If people are willing to follow you, you've gotta know where you are leading them to.

I have been thinking about how to apply this in ministry, really re-evaluating where exactly are we leading these people and how to be sure we know the destination we want them to go.

But maybe it's less about where I want them to go... and more about who I am following and where he wants us to go.

Jesus says, "...he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...he goes ahead of them and HIS sheep FOLLOW him because they know his voice." ~ John 10:4

I am following Christ, I know his voice, he has called me by name. And as a leader maybe I'm just bringing others along the way...

Back in July of 2006 in Pittsburgh this is what I learned and wrote about leadership. "This week I learned the kind of leader I want to be by watching the way Robbi Fischer and Nick Dusenbury lead us. They lead out of humility and intimacy with God. I loved working under Robbi because I know with out a doubt that he believes in me. I want to be encouraging, believe in others and lead out of humilty and knowing Christ in an intimate way like Robbi and Nick"

Craig said my mom is the "most well-rounded leader". I've watched time and time again people ask my mom why her ministry is so successful. She says, "we pray". They say, "yeah.. but what do you do? what is your plan of action?" "we pray." yeah but what is your strategy for growth?" "we pray". My mom leads out of prayer. She brings others along the way in seeking God through prayer. In prayer we know his voice. In prayer we grow in intimacy with Christ.

I have so much to learn... but these are things I have observed, learned and thought about recently. I want to lead out of prayer and intimacy with Christ as we follow his lead.