Leadership, a personal perspective.

I. Introduction

I’d like to thank Pastor and Sis Mendoza for hosting this event with such grace.

When a person is asked to speak to a select group of people, it is assumed that they are at least reasonably knowledgeable about their subject.

Pause...

We have a problem:

You see, I am a subject matter expert on a very few topics:

I do know quite a bit about afternoon naps. In this area of study and practice, I am very proficient.

“Bro Andrew, Bro Jeromy, am I lying?” LOL

Also, Twinkies.

I mean, you can eat them right out of the package, you can cut them up with fruit, you can deep fry twinkies!

I know something about that.

Leadership, not so much.

I will say that I have been exposed to great leadership since I was a kid.

For years, I didn’t even know it!

But since I have been so blessed to have been raised in the church, I have been around great leaders all of my life!

I think it is possible that some of you may not even realize just how much has been invested into you!!!

You may not even realize the awesome potential that has been built into you!

In this room today, I see a remarkable assembly of current and potential leadership!

You are extraordinary! Because of what God has put in you and because you’ve been paying attention, even for a short while!

Honestly, when you go to church and invest your heart, it only does you good! On every level!!!!

You can learn more just being in the Kingdom and paying attention than many a seminar series or lecture.

So like a fella walking through an art museum, I am able to recognize the real thing when I see it.

The challenge is to figure out how to get from point A to point B.

How to lead effectively in the Kingdom.

Like most of you, my years in the workforce brought me into contact with leadership both good and bad.

I have worked for some inept people!

One guy I worked for had an Ethics hotline complaint that I had to participate in, on my first day at work!

The hotline guy asked for my input and I had nothing for him. It was my first day on the job!

A month later, I knew better the quality of the man’s leadership.

I actually learned a lot from him: What not to do!

His grasping, mercenary avarice, was legend!

Steve smoked these rank, nasty cigars. The fumes were awful! But his selfish persona stank even worse!

Then on the other end of that spectrum, I worked for another fella some years later, who earned true respect and real loyalty from all of his people.

John Jarmin was a mensch! A stand up guy.

He expected much, but he invested much and made you better!

The best boss you could ask for!

From that man, I learned what To Do.

I learned that leadership in a secular sense, is motivating people to want to do what you want them to do.

Now that may sound like manipulation, but it’s not.

When you know what the goal is and that the goal is good for all, as long as you can communicate that well enough, you’ve got it made!

Treat people with respect, afford them the opportunity to serve with honor and be proud of their efforts!

Coach them in private, be hard, but allow them dignity. And when the time comes to reward good work, do it in front of their peers and subordinates!

Don’t ever diminish the man! Challenge him or her and one day they’ll thank you for it!

Communicate!!!! Over communicate and err on the side of respect.

Reward people according to their efforts, both good and bad. You owe it to the team.

Now some folks buy into that quickly. Others take longer to motivate and still others find their joy in resisting any and every good idea.

Perpetual discontent.

And if they are themselves geared to lead, they will ruin your other people, good people often, but people geared to follow.

I’ve had to nogotiate with collective bargaining units, deal with union business agents and HR lawyers and hated every minute.

One particular guy cost me $10K and a year to fire and I promise you, it was worth every penny.

And when I finally got to let him go, I had a .45 under my desk, safety off. “There’s no telling how this is gonna go...”

Dead eyes, like a snake. That man was capable of anything.

But see that’s all secular stuff. The world, kosmos.

Spiritual leadership is on a higher plane by orders of magnitude!

Now you’re playing for keeps!

Here, the goal is not a bottom line number or set of business metrics that will ensure we all still have jobs next quarter.

This is souls! Lives spent for Jesus, effort, legacy, Jesus forever and a great multitude in union:

Revelation 5:9 NKJV

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

That’s what we’re pushing for!

That’s the goal!

An empty hell and heaven jammed full!

Men, women, boys and girls who Jesus loves so much!

Why will you lead others?

That’s why!

We’ve got to pack heaven jammed full!

And none of us can do that on our own!

The greatest results in any effort are produced by a team!

When Jesus launched his earthly ministry, the first thing He did was assemble a team!

He recognized their potential, their value, their hopes and dreams, their deepest longing!

Being God, He knew it all! He chose to build them.

Likewise He builds you and me.

I am grateful that the adults are here and they’ll talk to us about Spiritual leadership here shortly,

I’ve been directed to talk about why.

Why lead?

#1 We’ve Been Entrusted with the Gospel!

1 Thessalonians 2:4 NKJV

But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

Not “A Gospel”

The Gospel!

We are entrusted of God with the Gospel!

If a few million people on planet earth have been entrusted with the Gospel and:

We know the Mighty God in Christ,

We know the name of Holy Covenant,

We know the source of Spirit life, we’ve got it!

Welll, that’s still less than one percent of the current world population. Less than one percent!

And hell hath enlarged it’s borders.

We need more of us!

The minsitry of reconciliation is not a casual thing!

Individual efforts are not going to cut it!

The next reason is a charge given and that must be given again, and again and again until Jesus comes!

#2 You have an obligation to commit truth to faithful men.

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

We lead because others have invested in us.

They counted us faithful and so they gave us truth.

Now we must be good stewards of those thing precious, and pass them on.

You have a responsibility and an obligation.

Those things that were given to you are valuable.

They must not die when you do!

The voices and the lessons of past generations and giants, they live in you in turn must commit them to faithful men!

If God sees fit to trust you with the association of others who look to you and will trust you, there is a reason for that!

It is such a precious thing!

Give them what you have!

Honor them, explain things to them, connect them to other ministries and resources!

Create a safe space for them to grow and protect them!

Spend personal time together outside the context of church.

Show them balance. Have fun together and be real.

Are you not a steward of spiritual things?

They will be able to do things in the Kingdom that you never will!

Commit truth to faithful men.

Work as a team!

And when a problem comes up, view it as an opportunity:

Take more than your share of the blame. Take less than your share of the credit.

Someone was asked the question: “What is the key to Christian leadership.”

The answer came at once: “Bent knees, wet eyes and a broken heart.

If we are going to lead in the Kingdom of God, like it or not, you will expereince all three.

If you are casual about leadership, the bent knees and the wet eyes and the broken heart will come to you, but it will be a negative response to your lazy stewardship.

If you are trying, really trying to do what Paul told Timothy, and commit truth to faithful men, You will still expereince bent knees, wet eyes and a broken heart, but the result is productive!

Men and women that will do great exploits!

Ambition

I was given two talking points: Why lead?

I’ve given you the top two reasons on my list.

The last talking point given me was this thing we call ambition.

That word kinda smells funny doesn’t it?

Old socks.

Well, you know we tend to automatically associate the word ambition with wrong or bad. But it isn’t always bad!

I know there will always be the Absoloms, but take it in your stride and rememebr the Jonathans!

Some of God’s people are Noble and honest and true!

If you’ll treat them right, If you’ll trust and forgo engineering outcomes, that is pleasing to God!

Ambition is not always wrong. Ambition can be good!

If your ambition makes your prickly and hard to work with, adjustment is needed.

If your Ambition is clean and honors God’s other children, it will help you endure the darker moments.

Caveat Emptor:

It can go either way.

Ambition can be a true and productive servant.

But it makes a terrible master!

Perhaps a healty dose of clean ambition is good but I would corral it within these walls:

1 Peter 5:6 NKJV

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

IF you are going to harness ambition, Learn to pray over your ambitions the way you pray over your children.

If you can do that, things may just turn out alright.

III. Conclusion

I was flirting with a decision recently.