You and Your Leaders
Leadership Teams are great. Without them, how else are you going to minister and reach the masses of students and/or adults? After all, you can’t possibly reach every single person without a little help, right? Leaders, though, are not just helpful for your ministry. I would venture to say that they can be a huge asset to you personally as well…if you let them be.
For me, many of my ministry teams I have viewed as extended family. It’s more than just a “fellowship”, a team or community. It is a family to me.
There was that time when I had to take a short time away to work through some personal issues with my family and my leaders stepped in and up. Not because it was their job, but because they considered me family and wanted to care for me in this way. There was that time that they showed up to my mom’s funeral. Not because they knew my mom, but because they were my family and were there to support me. There was that time that another leader and I went to hear another leader do standup comedy. Not because we really wanted to go out midweek to listen to comedy, but because he is family and we wanted to support him. There was those times when I or they would share great news or sad news about something that has just happened in my/their lives. Not because they felt obligate to but because we consider ourselves family and want them to know.
I honestly don’t know where I would be a lot of times without them in my life and I would like to think that they think of me the same way. They are part of my family.
I know that not all leadership teams get along great and that there are differences, but why wouldn’t your leaders and you be like an extended family to each other? You love those you are ministering to, you love Jesus and you are aligned on vision. Other than maybe you don’t really care about them personally (you just care about what they can offer you and your ministry), I don’t see why you wouldn’t have a great “familial” relationship with them.
So, what can you do this week to treat your leaders less like leaders and more like family?
