In the 20th chapter of the book of Acts, Paul begins to address the leaders at the church of Ephesus. The church in Ephesus had a great start, had been growing, and the Spirit of God was working great miracles there. Despite the large riot that rocked the city, the church was prevailing.
Paul uses this time to address the leaders and give them some timely advice on how they should lead.
He gathers them, and begins to tell them of his adventurers while preaching. And by adventures I mean all the trails and tears that he has endured for the sake of preaching the Grace of God. So much so, that God Himself is telling Paul that in every city, "imprisonment and afflictions await me" (vs. 23).
As leaders, when we gather with our teams, it is crucially important to inform them of the trails that we go through. I love that Paul does not play the super tough guy here, not mentioning his hurts, but lets them know that some of them have caused tears. That the ministry hurts. That God said that there will be more hurt. We need to do this with our teams. Yes we encourage, but we must be honest with them about what we are enduring. Let your teams know that it is hard. Yet just like Paul, give them the reason why we do what we do. The Grace of God. There is nothing like it. The Gospel of the Grace of God is scandalous. The fact that God will forgive a sinner, and cloth him with His righteousness.... is insane. It gives life. This is what keeps us going. People must know of this Grace. So despite the tears... Grace abounds.
Paul then lets the bomb drop that he will never see his leaders again. Yea... the leader is leaving, and he now is informing them of all that they should know and remember so that they step up.
We sometimes need to do the same. Maybe we will see our leaders again, but we should move out of the way so that they can step up. It is sad to see when leaders get comfortable in their position. They love being the leader. The guy on top. It was time to move out of the way, and let others lead. Dont be the lid of your teams. Invest in faithful men, so that they will do the same to others and begin to lead.
Knowing that he will not see his team again, Paul nails down two important truths they must remember as they lead the people of God (vs28). (And yes, that is what they oversee, the Church of God. I remind myself continually that God has not made me an overseer of tasks, but of people. No matter what type of organization you lead, the most importnat asset we have as leaders are people. Real souls, that must be loved, led, encouraged, disciplined and so forth. Disclaimer: this is really hard for me. Being so goal driven, I find it much easier to oversee taks, rather than people. God help me.) Paul tells his leaders to pay careful attention to themselves and to all the flock.
First we must take care of ourselves. I know that as leaders, sometimes the first person we ignore is ourselves. But I am reminded of the weird cartoon drawn out on the pamphlets in every seat on an airplane. There is this woman (who gives me nightmares now... her eyes... yikes!), as the plane is going down mind you, who puts on her oxygen mask first, and then is instructed to put on her child's mask. Silly, yet important. Or as the band, Me without you, so eloquently put it, "A glass can only spill what it contains".
Are you taking care of yourself? Ask God to search your heart, spend time with Jesus, pray, fast and just be restored. As a christian this is so important, and as a leader, necessary. I encourage you to follow a legit bible reading plan. The Core team leaders at ICC North and I have committed to follow this plan:
http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/ You can use it from your smart phone as well. The point is, this is important. You cannot circumvent this responsibility.
Are you paying careful attention to others you lead? It is more than just giving a lesson, accomplishing a task, or a quick text. This is work. Careful attention to others. How are they doing? What are they going through? It is not about having the answers to their problems, it is walking with them through their problems. Like I said, it is work. But that is what we are called to do as we lead. The real responsibility is not the task, it is the person. The person is whom God gave you, not the task.
I love that after he gave them these admonitions, Paul knelt down, prayed with them, weeped with them and kissed them. This will never change: People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Show your team that you care. What does that mean for you? Maybe inviting them to lunch, having them over at your house, talking about their hurts, praying with them, crying with them.
I am not a leader in a church but I consider myself to be a leader in my home. Unfortunately when I try to step down to let others lead I get judged and confronted. How is one supposed to allow others to lead when they just don't want to?
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