At Exponential13 in a session called “From Leading to Being Led,” Craig Groeschel, author and pastor of LifeChurch.tv shared the following thoughts:
Before you can be an effective leader of people, you must be a passionate follower of Christ.
Three obstacles to following before leading:
1. You’re more concerned with what people think than what God thinks.
Since I wasn’t ordained yet (which means I didn’t glow in the dark), I had to have an ordained pastor bless the elements by praying over the phone. Trying to impress the crowd, I ended up choking on the bread and drinking too much of the cup. I was humiliated because I was obsessed with what people thought about me rather than concerned with what God thought about me.
People are too big in our lives, and God is too small. This is idolatry!
I cannot please everyone, but I can please God.
2. You’re more concerned with your public image than your private devotion.
Questions to consider:
- Are you the first to arrive and last to leave just to look good?
- Are you telling people you are praying for them but with no intentions to do so?
- Are you studying the Bible to preach or to hear from God?
- Are you praying more publicly in a week than you did privately?
- Are you becoming a full-time pastor and a part-time follower of Christ?
- Are you faithful to Jesus only when everyone is looking?
It’s actually the things that no one sees that everyone needs and wants. It is when our relationship with God is so real and vibrant that it overflows into what we do for others and with others.
3. You’re more concerned with bringing people in than bringing glory to God.
When we take credit for the decline then we will take credit in the increase. The Church is His!
Most of us will overestimate what we can do in the short run, and we will underestimate what God can do through a life of faithful serving. It’s not about us! It is all about Him!
