Life Here and There

In my last post, I talked about how God sees deeper than the skin and today, I want to carry that thought further (based on my message from last Sunday) about how God sees beyond today.

I’m busy today. I have a lot of things up in the air that are all happening at once. Your day is like mine, isn’t it? Catching up isn’t really an option. And maybe catching up isn’t what it’s cracked up to be anyway. After all, if we were caught up, we wouldn’t be necessary in the moment. So we keep living by the clock… tick, tock, tick, tock.

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One of the most common questions among human beings is, how do I know God’s will? Or sometimes we’ll simply ask, how do I make right and wise decisions?

Christians sometimes want to make this issue mystical. In fact, we can be downright superstitious, seeking signs and waiting for audible voices. But what if it’s more simple than that? When someone comes to me asking these questions, I offer up three tests. These three tests are, in my opinion, the ultimate way to discern what to do next…

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In our journey through the Word (I’ve been preaching through the entire Bible on Sundays), we’ve come up to the book of Ruth – one of my own favorites in the Old Testament. Ruth’s story takes place during one of the darker ages of the history of the Israelites. It’s a dark time in her nation, her life, and her family, yet Ruth manages to make some pretty great decisions along the way.

ONE GREAT TRUTH: Life presents a series of circumstances to us that are really opportunities for us to make a godly choice.

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Like math? An integer is a whole number, right? Our word integrity comes from the same root as the word integer. Integrity is really the concept of being whole, of being one, or of being the same all the time. D. L. Moody said that character is who we are in the dark.

Integrity is the foundation for our relationships as well as our reputation. Much is at stake every time we make another moral choice. Do what is right and it will probably cost you. Do what is wrong and it will most likely cost you far more.

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photo credit: pfala

When you walk into a leadership opportunity, you go with a little bit of equity by virtue of your position and the inevitable honeymoon period during which those you lead will let you get by with just a bit more than they will a decade later, but you have to be very careful with that equity. Every decision you make, and every risk you lead your organization to take will require an investment of some of your leadership equity (the trust people place in you).

Make good decisions – your equity grows. Make poor ones, you lose and it’s nearly impossible to lead when you’re bankrupt of influence. As a Pastor put it whom I was recently listening to, “Choose the right color carpet today, the congregation may let you relocate them tomorrow.”

So how do you handle the equity you have?

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I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership this evening, and what a privilege influence is. Rather than carefully craft a lengthy article about a single topic, I thought I’d spill out everything I’ve been pondering and let you sort it out. Here are some random leadership thoughts to get your inner leader’s juices flowing…

• Everybody leads somebody whether they intend to or not. Somebody’s always watching you.
• Leadership isn’t about being great, but building great people.
• You have to lead yourself (discipline) before leading others (discipleship).
• Failure isn’t final unless it kills you – learn from it and be better.
• It’s always better to find ten people and equip them for a work than to do the work of ten people.
• Every leader will answer to God for the responsibility and stewardship of his or her influence.
• You can’t lead from the rear.
• People don’t respect what you don’t inspect – check in on those whom you are leading.
• Inactive leadership gets you nowhere. Reactive leadership gets you in trouble. Overactive leadership gets you lost. But proactive leadership puts you out in front every time!
• Integrity and character always matter more than skill, talent, and genius.
• Decision-managing is just as important as decision-making. What you do after the choice has been made is just as important as the choice you’ve made.
• A leader must be a reader, a learner, and a listener.
• At some point, research, prayer, and consultation must give way to forward-leaning, risk-taking action!
• Leading people without loving people is sheer tyranny.
• Leading is more than reading lists – get out there and lead!

I’d say these might become a book someday, but they would merely be a rehashing of all the reading I’ve been doing for ten years. I’d rather just get busy leading.

photo credit: wmshc_kiwi

To be honest, the title of this post is a misnomer in some respects. Bold leadership sometimes requires we ignore any assessment of cost versus benefit. There are just times when the cost is worth it no matter what, such as when truth or integrity is at stake. At other times, we need to ascertain the damage of a risky decision, such as when a “smart” move might hurt someone we love.

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