…With obeying that you miss the voice of God. You can read my two other thoughts on leadership from this week HERE and HERE.
Making tough decisions, and deciding before you start are essential to effective leadership. This one though is THE most important leadership lesson ESPECIALLY in the church. I ended yesterday’s blog by saying we should NEVER stray from our vision, mission or strategy BARRING the move or voice of God. This is where we fail. I think sometimes as leaders, especially church leaders, we can get SO CONSUMED with obeying the mission God gave us, that we fail to hear God’s voice when He wants us to change directions.
It is very easy to be consumed with carrying out the task God gave us as church leaders. In one sense we SHOULD be consumed with doing God’s will. But the mistake we make is becoming consumed with our task and NOT with our God. We become committed to the church. To the style. To the mission. To the vision. We consume ourselves with all the PRODUCTS of the task and NOT the giver of it.
In Genesis God told Abraham to take his only son Isaac up a mountain and sacrifice him to God. Abraham set out on His mission to complete the task God gave him. NOTHING was going to stand in the way of obeying God, not even his only son. At the moment Abraham raised the knife to slay his son God spoke to Abraham and gave him a change of plans. Abraham stopped and God provided a ram in the thicket for the sacrifice. Maybe that story doesn’t fit this thought but it made me ask some questions.
How many times in ministry leadership have we been so consumed with the task Jesus gave us that we didn’t hear God’s voice and HAVEN’T stopped the knife and we’ve suffered for it? What “better” courses has the church missed because we didn’t hear God’s voice? MANY times God will change the course He originally set us on, and when He does it will ALWAYS be a better course. That is why we MUST be consumed with HIM and not the task he gave us. In essence we’ve committed ministry suicide by holding onto and being so consumed with the original task God gave us, that we fail to hear His voice for the new one.
Whether it’s being consumed with our methods, our programs, our mission or our vision, GOD is the orchestrator of it all AND (Wild Goose reference) He has COMPLETE editorial control. Don’t be so consumed with what He asks OF us that we miss WHO is asking.
Consumed,
Jeff
