Reminders are a good thing. I have found over the years that most people don’t need some new teaching, rather, they need an encouraging reminder of what they already know to be true, but the truth has faded into the thick mist of busyness. I came across this thought by Steve Maraboli today that had some good, encouraging reminders in it…so I double-dog-dare ya to be light this year!
Monty
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Dare to Be
When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can –
At all times, Dare to be!”
As we launch into another new year, I have noticed there seems to be at least two types of leaders. One leader looks at the opportunity a new year brings to hit the reset button…to try something new…to experience the energy that comes from stepping out by faith into the unknown realm of potentiality.
Another leader takes a deep breath and with a massive sigh breathes out a quiet prayer hoping that the next year will be better than the previous year, or perhaps maybe this year I should change jobs and get off of the leadership treadmill.
Leadership is hard work. It requires a high level of self awareness and the courage to allow God to do some work in the soul to bring about an increasing level of integrity and honesty.
Yet most leaders are so busy they seldom take the necessary time to pause, slow down and listen to their soul and to what God is saying in the quiet spaces. It is easy to justify why there is no time to deal with these things, after all, we are important, we have things to get done, people to lead, objectives to accomplish for the common good and corporate vision right?
One key trait that I have observed in the lives of great leaders that last is that they take the time to engage in healthy self-examination. I’m not talking about becoming a comatose navel-gazer, but rather becoming a person that is self-aware and deals with the shadow side of their personality in order to grow in a holistic fashion (body-soul-spirit). This also grows the organizations that they lead.
Take a moment and read through Gordon MacDonald’s piece on what he calls “The Seven Deadly Siphons.” While he wrote this for pastors specifically, I think you will easily be able to make the connections to whatever area of leadership you are in. Evaluate where you need to invest some energy this year so that you lead well with integrity and continue to finish strong!
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The Seven Deadly Siphons
Loss of Spiritual passion seems to be the inevitable result of:
1. Words without action. We are tempted to think that saying something actualizes it. We have a momentary feeling of spirituality when we talk about wanting to pray more or “have more time in the Word.”
2. Busyness without purpose. Ministry produces activities, programs, conversations. If our choices of time-use are not disciplined by call and purpose, our energies become like a lazy, shallow river.
3. Calendars without a Sabbath. A datebook filled with appointments but absent of significant hours (days) of quiet and reflection-written in first-is an abomination (an old and harsh word) to the God of the Bible, who said, “Six days you shall labor…the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.”
4. Relationships without mutual nourishment. Pastors tend to be acquainted with too many people but know too few people. The spiritual masters have told us for centuries that without soul-friends, we won’t gain spiritual momentum.
5. Pastoral personality without self-examination. Too much ministry is built on unresolved anger, unhealthy needs for approval, and the instinct to control. Failing to explore our soul for un-wholeness ultimately takes it toll.
6. Natural giftedness without spiritual power. A pastor can go a considerable distance in ministry with catchy words, people skills, political savvy, and a facility for organizational dynamics. But kingdom work demands qualities that only a filled-up soul can offer.
7. An enormous theology without an adequate spirituality. A pastor cannot represent a view of reality that includes Creation, evil, reconciliation and conversion, sacrificial service, and eternity-a mind-boggling expanse of conviction-and have a spiritual-exercise regimen that is pea-sized in contrast. A great theology demands a great spirituality.
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These are some powerful areas to consider, ruminate upon and take action. The power of your public ministry will only be as great as your private world. If you are not investing in the private world of your soul you are choosing to cap your level of leadership and growth. Each of the areas that MacDonald mentions are worthy of spending some time unpacking, and I would encourage you to do exactly that.
Make it a great year!
Monty
In the movie Braveheart, William Wallace is speaking before a rag-tag bunch of Scotsmen attempting to breathe purpose into their weary hearts. These men have been used as disposable pawns by the nobles; they have lost friends and family fighting the English while their leaders have made deals of safety and security. Tired, dejected and weary of living a life that seems to be going nowhere the men begin to leave the battle-field. It is at this moment of “nothing really matters” that Wallace rides in and begins to paint a picture of purpose and meaning. From atop his mount Wallace cries, “Every man dies, not every man really lives.”
There is a reason to live…there is a purpose to life…it is not found in mere existence, but rather it is a divine seed that is within every person who breathes. When we begin to cultivate this divine gift of passion, purpose and potentiality, we become ruined for the ordinary and that truly is God’s desire for you…to be ruined for the ordinary.
I have talked with too many men and women who wish they could have another job…wish they had a different life or family but feel emotionally and vocationally stuck riding out the current of existence.
Jesus did not give His life so that we would merely exists, living in apathy or atrophy…He died so that His very life would be infused into us jump starting the divine ride of a lifetime!
Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that: It is not length of life, but depth of life, that truly matters. Jesus said it this way:
“If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” Mark 8:35
* Everyone dies, but not many really live…
* It’s not the length of life that matters, but rather the depth of life…
* Living full-on for the Good news of Jesus births a passionate life marinated in depth.
When I decided to take God at His word…I found life. When I chose to allow the Good News of Christ to become my mission…I found purpose. When I surrendered my agendas to the Holy Spirit, and began experiencing the path illuminated by Him, I was ruined for the ordinary.
There are many days that I stand amazed at all the things God has allowed me to be a part of, from helping a village in Uganda receive clean water, to handing out sleeping bags to the homeless in downtown Seattle. From holding the hand of a friend in pain, to riding horses over the Canadian Rockies with a bunch of crazy guys. From experiencing the peace, presence and power of God in my life to witnessing a family healed and transformed through the grace and peace of God in the community of faith.
The beauty of beginning to really live life is that you don’t have to move, change jobs, find a new family, or get it all together. No, God will meet you right where you are, just as you are, right now.
He simply asks a question. “Will you follow me?” If you will answer Him will a committed “Yes,” and allow Him to take the driver’s seat, you will begin to view your job, your life, your spouse, your friends and your family through a radically different set of eyes.
You will begin to see beauty where there was ash. You will begin to experience hope where there was apathy. You will begin to the fingerprints and the dance of Trinity all around you, and you too will be ruined for the ordinary.
Dei Gratia,
Monty
