Getting distracted is DANGEROUS! (I remember taking my eyes off the road for just a few seconds the other day…and when I looked up I was about to take out a row of mailboxes! I immediately jerked the car back into the road…and if there had been another car coming I would have NAILED them!)
In ministry we can’t allow ourselves to become distracted (which is SO MUCH more of a challenge than it was 10 years ago because of the “advancement” of social media.)
So…what are four distractions that we are constantly going to have to resist as leader?
#1 - Pleasure - We are going to have to fight doing what is easy rather than what is right!
#2 - Pride - There WILL come the temptation to begin to think, “Look at all of this great work I have done!” I can think of two leaders in the Scripture who had simular thoughts…it didn’t go well for them! (See Daniel 4:28-33 and Acts 12:19-23)
#3 - Procrastination - Many times we KNOW what the right decision that needs to be made…but because it may be tough to do so we delay it, hoping that maybe God either just “work it out” or change His mind!
#4 - People - Someone is always going to not like what you do, who you are and what you stand for…always! When you get in the people pleasing business you get out of the business of pleasing God! (See Galatians 1:10)
#5 - Performance - One of the greatest problems with success is that leaders can actually begin to believe that they are the ones that caused success to happen…and in order to keep/maintain it they have to work harder and harder…thus establishing a pace that literally sends them into a wall at 100 mph.
#6 - Problems - We can’t view problems as God’s punishment…but rather we must view them as God’s preparation! David didn’t see the lion and the bear as a problem…but rather he viewed them as opportunities to prepare him for the greater problems in life he knew that were sure to come. (See I Samuel 17:33-37)
#7 - Passion - Passion can be a distraction when we use it to run over people rather than lead them! God did NOT give us the Spirit of timidity…but of power, LOVE and self discipline! (II Timothy 1:7) Power without love always leads to legalism and domination. We MUST be passionate about what God has called us to…but we must also learn how to use that passion to lead others to where they need to be…not drive them there!