Someone asked me on Twitter what are some transitions I’ve gone through as a leader…and so I sat down and jotted the following out.
#1 - I Want To See God Do Something Great.
When we first began NewSpring Church…I really did believe in my heart that God wanted to do something amazing in Anderson. (Greenville, Florence and Columbia weren’t on my mind at all…His plans are MUCH larger - I Corinthians 2:9!)
SO…I began to pray, to beg God to do some great things. I really did believe that if anything significant was going to happen then He was going to do it and that all I had to do was pray really hard.
#2 - I Want To Do Something Great.
One of the most dangerous things God can give someone is success…I found that out the hard way.
When we first began NewSpring…I did it all—leading worship, membership class, follow up, powerpoint—EVERYTHING. (Except for writing the checks!)
And…as the church began to experience some growth I began to depend less on God and more on myself. I actually began thinking that God needed me…and that without me the church simply would not be successful.
SO…in 2005 God allowed me to nearly die to prove to me that I just wasn’t that good!!! Thus leading to the third transition…
#3 - I Want Us To Do Something Great.
I am all about the team…and I LOVE the team of people I work with. Over time I have learned (and am still learning) to delegate tasks that I used to be really involved in and watch people who are way more skilled than me take ministry to levels that they never could have achieved under my leadership.
BUT…once again this was not the picture of what God wanted our church to become. YES…teamwork does make the dream work. YES…a healthy team IS essential to a healthy church. YES…God has surrounded me with incredible people…
BUT…at the end of the day II Corinthians 4:1 is true of every one of us…and we can do some great things…but if we focus on making plans minus the power of God…then all we do is make a bunch of noise that doesn’t really amount to anything for the next generation.
#4 - I Want God To Do Something Great Through Us.
This ministry isn’t about me…it’s about Jesus!
This ministry isn’t about our staff…it’s about Jesus!
John 3:30 is our obsession.
We know that if God isn’t involved in this church…we’re screwed! We can’t accomplish ANYTHING of eternal significance without Him!
We are more desperate for HIS PRESENCE than we are CULTURAL RELEVANCE!
And we would much rather see REPENTANCE from our people rather than RECOGNITION from other churches.
AND we know that those things ONLY happen through the power of God.
BUT…we also know that God’s power isn’t an excuse for laziness. God gave Nehemiah a vision to build the wall…but Nehemiah actually had to get his hands dirty to accomplish the work. YES…God did it…THROUGH the willingness of Nehemiah.
God told Joshua that he was going to posses the land…but then Joshua had to go and fight for it. God “didn’t do it all,” but rather worked through a man who believed God was big enough to fulfill His promises through the faithfulness of effort and hard work.
We want to see God work…we beg Him for it…but then we are passionate enough about it to NOT be passive and let things happen…but rather to move in obedience as He leads, knowing that as long as we listen to Him we can NEVER go wrong!