Leadership Lessons 4 of 5

The leadership lessons just continue to poor out :-)...

Read books. It's amazing what books will do to our perspective and to our ability to grow as the kind of leaders that we should be. Read books that challenge your thinking, read books that aren't "Christian", read books that inspire you, read books that have the potential to take you to the next level in your leadership.

Take your days off and your vacations. Early in my ministry I would work on my days off and I did not take my vacations. I thought I was being a "good pastor" by showing others how hard I was working. People think that the pastor only works on Sunday morning, and I wanted to dispel that myth and let others see just how hard I was working, so I worked 60 and 70 hours per week and rarely took vacation time. No one stopped me, no one called me on it; I think they would have applauded my hard work as they lowered me 6 foot into the ground. Church attender #1 at the graveside, "Wasn't Kris a hard worker?" Church attender #2, "Yeah, too bad he's dead, where can we find the next sucker, to get to do all the work we should have been doing?" What ended up happening was I began to resent the church, I dreaded ministry, I started behaving like a martyr, I would let people know how many hours I had worked, how many home visits, how many phone calls, etc. just so they would affirm me. Those days are over, I gladly take every day off and vacation that I am allowed. I don't look to impress people with my "ministry stats".

Don't neglect your personal devotions/disciplines. As a pastor I spend a lot of time working with my Bible open (or on my computer screen) if I'm not careful I will take the time that I'm writing and editing sermons and believe that I've done "my time" with God. I see devotions as spending time with God just for relationship sake, not for more Bible knowledge or to get church work done. When working on sermons I'm thinking about communicating to others, not communicating with God. When my communication with God begins to suffer then my personal life begins to get skewed; i.e. I'm more susceptible to temptation, I get cranky with my family, my attitude becomes negative, I lack unction, etc. When I've spent time reading the Bible, talking with God, thinking about Him, fasting, singing, etc. it sets me up to be the kind of leader that others want to follow.

Never lose your moral authority. Pastors hold a position of authority within the church (unless you’re a Friends pastor - inside joke), that position of authority is simply given because of title, a paycheck, and a job description. Moral authority cannot be assigned by a man, it can only be earned over time. Moral authority can be lost in a moment but takes a lifetime to acquire or rebuild. A pastor loses all credibility when his moral authority has been compromised. Part of my job (and obligation as a Christ follower) is to maintain moral integrity, if that is gone your ministry begins to tank, you don't have to look very far within our culture to see the reality of this principle.