Don't Commit A Leadership Crime

Leadership is hard. Very hard! I don't care if you're a Type A, Alpha Dog, dominating Lion, there comes a point as a leader when making decisions - especially one that affects other people - brings a weight and a load with it. And this weight can be heavy - painfully heavy! Are you ready to carry it? Seriously. Do you have what it takes?

I heard a leader I greatly respect and admire recently say that "leadership is defined during a crisis". If only we all knew this before the crisis hit! Part of why I believe this to be true is because it's during those time of turmoil or the unknown that we have to trust our instincts, that we're forced to listen to the Holy Spirit very intently, and (as I said a moment ago) we are often forced to make decisions that will affect those we're leading. But I think another reason why this statement is true is because it's during those times of crisis that we quickly discover whether we've been trying to "carrying the burden" on our own, or whether we've had the wisdom to allow others to share the load. If you said you were ready to carry the "weight and the load" and you were thinking that you could do this all by yourself, you're laying the perfect foundation to be knocked over like a Lincoln Log fort in an earthquake.

Recently I went through the painful discovery that I had been guilty of this leadership crime. We usually always have the right motive - we want to "take the bullet" for everyone or we think suffering alone is just part of the deserted island of leadership. WRONG! This is not the way God made us. And this is especially a crime of unforgivable proportions in the church. Paul didn't go into cities & churches and appoint an elder. They appointed "elders" - GROUPS of people who walked, prayed, cried, laughed, and led together. People who trusted each other and shared the weight and the load. Jesus even chose 3 of His 12 disciples to deeply invest and confide in. JESUS for crying out loud! Apparently, if God cared about my "Type A, control-freak" tendencies, He didn't think to mention it to everyone else in His Word. Ouch!

So, unless you're a dump truck or a wheel barrow, stop trying to carry all of this yourself. It's going to KILL YOU! You're not made to handle it that way. And if anyone else thinks you are, you might need to consider either setting them straight or getting out while you still can. Your life and sanity depend on it!

Have you been guilty of this? Is someone walking with you?

"Share each other's troubles and problems - bear each other's burdens - and in this way OBEY the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2