Humility and Leadership

Sometimes these words can sound like antonyms.

The humble man makes himself of no account, submits readily to others and does not push his own agenda. The leader is confident, assertive and knows what needs to be done and how to get it done. The humble man knows that it’s only through the grace and mercy of God that anything good or perfect can be done. The leader understands that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, WE are now the righteousness of God and have the grace and power to do all that He has put in our hearts to do.

See, they sound contrary one to the other. And most people identify readily with one or the other. Which one you lean towards will depend on any number and variety of circumstances. However, the descriptions I just gave don’t have to be of two separate men! The goal is to lead from a place of humility. Jesus said it over and over again – Follow me. And then He said only what He heard the Father say and did only what He saw the Father do. He didn’t preach His own message, but the message of the Kingdom of God.

One of my favorite quotes that I came back from Catalyst with was from Chuck Swindoll – “Humility fosters a life of peace and rest. Over-confidence in your own abilities will burn you out.”

So, if you’re tired, stressed and on the verge of burn out – stop right now and ask yourself: what am I doing in my own strength? Where am I not walking in love? Where have I allowed pride to creep in? If you answer these questions honestly, and ask Holy Ghost to show you the things about yourself that you can’t see, you may be surprised at how far off track you’ve gotten without even noticing.

Let It Be – Too

As a follow-up to my last post, I realized that I left out possibly the most important part of “I gotta be me”, and that is – I gotta let others be THEM.

It’s easy for us to defend our right to be ourselves, but harder to remember that others have that same right.

I’ve noticed that I have a hard time seeing people as they really are. Us self-absorbed human beings tend to define the people in our lives solely by their relationship to us.

• That’s MY husband. He lives with ME. He works all day, then comes home to talk to ME about US.
• That’s my Spiritual Leader. He leads ME. He teaches ME. He’s concerned about MY well-being and that I’M happy and fulfilled in life.
• That’s MY God. He saved ME. He made ME to be His righteousness. Even if no one else ever accepted Jesus, He still would have done it just for ME.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these statements, I think that most of us stop there and forget that all of these people have a life, purpose and meaning beyond what they can do for ME. I believe that I’m on a path that will one day end with me being able to look at people and see the plan and purpose for God in their lives without me in the forefront of the picture.

Let It Be

Not only a great song by The Beatles. Words to live by.

If you’re one of the few people who read this blog and don’t also read Heretics and/or Ricky Patrick, I recommend checking out some of their most recent posts (links to their blogs are on my blogroll to the right) because the most recent ones “The Leadership Conundrum” and “Believe the Best” are what have sparked this post from me.

Last week, a group of us leaders from GBF went to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. A leadership conference geared toward the young leaders in today’s church. There were some great presentations, great music, great preaching and teaching, loads of ideas, programs and innovations for us to experience.

I think it’s interesting that every person I’ve asked “What was your #1 take away from Catalyst” the answer has been different. One person said, “The whole conference was about how much being a leader sucks.” Another said, “The whole conference was about how much we need each other and how important relationships are.” For me, the whole conference was centered on and inspired by humility – remembering that, while we strive to be our very best, we have to remember that our very best is as filthy rags. We are nothing and can do nothing separate from the mercy, grace and power of God.

It’s been a week now since Catalyst ended, and I’ve had time to ponder what I heard, discuss thoughts and ideas with friends and colleagues, and search my own heart. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I just need to let myself be me. That’s one of those statements that seems simple and obvious, but in application, actually becomes complicated and somehow elusive. We define ourselves by so many criteria, it’s easy to become distracted or even overwhelmed by the myriad of possibilities and options.

I think that I have recently been caught up in the idea of “being a leader” rather than being caught up in following after God. When I focus in on God, and do all that He has put in my heart to do, I look around and there are people following me with excitement, energy and expectation. But when I notice them, then stop and turn to them in order to “develop” them, suddenly I’ve stopped leading and the momentum dries up. I know that I’m never going to be Francis Chan, or Kari Jobe or Marie Hendrix. And that’s OK, because I’m not SUPPOSED to be them, I’m supposed to be ME.

Now, for the pilgrimage to discover just who the heck that is…

Vacation

Ok, so I haven’t blogged since I went on vacation because I told people my next post would have some photos of my nephew and nieces. It’s taken me a little while to actually GET said photos, and I don’t want to be a liar and post anything other than what I said I would… so that’s why it’s been so long since my last post. Long explanation – sorry!

This is my nephew, Joseph Scott Anthony Mines, 5 years old, but looking like he’s auditioning for Survivor: America.

Joseph

This is my niece, Elise Melian Mines, 4 years old, giving the Black Olive gang sign.

And this is my niece, Carter Lee Mines, 2 years old, with her best friend in the world Bobbie (the blanket) going for a pleasant stroll in the woods.

It was so wonderful spending time with my family and especially these amazing kids, but the real stars of the trip to the cabins were:

Those crazy deer were waiting for us right on the porch when we woke up in the morning. They showed up again around noon when we’d sit out back at the picnic table for lunch. And then we’d see them again when we’d fire up the grill around dusk. They look skinny, but it’s not because we didn’t feed them enough!

Amazingly enough, I don’t have ANY pictures of the falls or the park, so you’ll have to rely on the Pre-Show photos from my last post (which do a much better job at capturing the beauty of the falls than I could have anyway).

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and I’m so glad I got to go!

I’ll blog again soon!

Vacation – the pre-show

For those who are curious – I’m headed out to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia for a family vacation this week!!!!  I wanted to put up some pictures so you could share in the pre-vacation excitement with me. These pictures are from promotional sites trying to get people to come and visit Wild, Wonderful West Virginia, but I’ll try to get some pictures of my own to post upon my return. Until then – ciao bella!!!