Archive for June 2012
It’s Lonely At The Bottom
I get to hang out with a lot of people at the “top” of their organization and a theme I often hear is that there some loneliness that comes with their success. Well, I also hang out with quite a few individuals who are in the “middle” or “bottom” of their organization… and a theme I often hear from them is that there is some loneliness that comes… with life.
I don’t think anyone should ever feel like they have to qualify their loneliness or that they should feel ashamed to admit that they are lonely. Loneliness is not a bad thing; how you respond to loneliness is where you can get in trouble.
Here’s a few things to do to best respond to the feeling of loneliness:
1.) Read yo Bible. And keep doing so.
If your mind is a battlefield, you are usually losing when you feel lonely. You think of the dumbest things during this time, and the Bible simply can’t be an under-rated item on your to-do list. Reading your Bible doesn’t fix things, it fixes your thinking.
2.) Look for lonely people, and befriend them.
Proverbs 11:25 says, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” If you took inventory of the relationships in your life, and looked for a lonely person, you wouldn’t have to search far to find someone. In being the person you want someone to be to you, you will find yourself more secure in your current season of life.
Thinking Out Loud
As a leader, you have a desired outcome of what you want your followers to do and be. Whether it’s pouring into other leaders or training up volunteers, getting people to get things done right can often be frustrating. If you’ve ever done something at a high-level, it’s hard to watch someone do an “eh” job on anything. You don’t want to seem like you’re “better” than anyone else, but if you’re honest in your mind, you simply can do it better.
I was golfing with a Creative Director for family ministries at a large church, Timothy Somers, and I asked him how things were going with his volunteers. His response was sick: “Ryan, I really don’t even have to be at the services for things to run smoothly anymore. They’re able to do without me.“… And I thought he was done. I’m already thinking this is fantastic because isn’t this the goal?! He continued with, “But, man, if I could get them to now THINK like I would, that’d be even better. That’s next.”
He didn’t even need to expound on the thought. I think you get it. And maybe we shouldn’t shift our thinking one way, but simply add to our thought process when it comes to leadership. Train people to do the job right, but when people know WHY “you/we” do the job that way, they’re prone to do things you couldn’t think of on your own. Train people to work with the highest excellence possible, but also give them your thinking behind it. That doesn’t just make a service great, but it helps the people take their own abilities to another level.
Catalyst Backstage with Judah Smith
Judah Smith is the pastor of City Church in Seattle, WA and is known as one of the top young Christian communicators on the planet. Here are a couple of lessons I walked away from interviewing Judah Smith:
1.) Don’t lead the way others think you should lead.
I’ll never forget the time Ed Young let the air out of the room at a conference when he told everyone that he didn’t really read books that much. Judah shared the same. And there was a breath of fresh air in the room. They’re not trapped into being the leader other people want them to be… they’re leading the way they feel God has called them to lead. We can make grandiose statements about what leadership is like, “Leaders. Read.” My response to that is, “Some.”
2.) Remember who you’re really ministering to.
The aura Judah carried about himself wasn’t one of someone who’s caught up in “Christian Hollywood.” The fact of the matter is that most of the people we are ministering to aren’t aware of who all the Christian Celebrities are. If we are ministering to people who don’t know who Jesus is, how in the world would they know who our favorite pastors are? Judah shared how he doesn’t get entangled with his popularity, but keeps his eyes focused on really pastoring his church and making an impact in his city.
You can watch the whole interview at www.catalystbackstage.com.