Leading is a difficult task whether you are in the secular world or in church. Leaders must stay sharp if they want to be faithful to the task God has laid before them. Here are just a few “hooks” that can hinder leaders.
#1 – Wasting Time – We live in a world where it is easier to waste time than it ever has been before. Comment wars on blogs, tweeting arguments, browsing through random facebook pages and numerous other things can absolutely distract us from what we were put on this planet to do. (BTW…I don’t think the world will EVER be changed because of the comment section on a blog!!!)
#2 – Cruise Control – Leadership is exhausting, and so we must constantly battle the desire to just allow things to be the way they are. This mentality will put us on course towards an iceberg that will sink even the largest ship! (”I won’t ever let go Jack!”)
#3 – Excuse Making – When a problem/difficult situation arises we can either deal with it or simply excuse it away. And people who make excuses rarely make a difference because they are way more obsessed with doing what is easy rather than doing what is right.
#4 – Being Passive – This is a cousin of #3, but passivity has no place in leadership. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away; in fact, it often makes is become larger and, in many cases, overwhelming. If a problem comes to your attention DEAL WITH IT, don’t deny it. God brought it to your attention because you are the leader and you are the one called to make the tough decision.
#5 – Copying – We should NEVER be ashamed of borrowing ideas from others! I honestly feel that there really aren’t any original ideas on the planet…and even if the idea is “original” that person was given the idea from the Holy Spirit…so it actually isn’t original in the first place. However, when we build a ministry based on the imitation of others rather than revelation from God we do so out of laziness…and God NEVER honors laziness.
#6 – Meaningless Fights – Someone IS going to attack your church/ministry…and one of the easiest ways to get sidetracked is to begin to fight with people who don’t know you, care about you or care about your church.
#7 – Playing It Safe – When a leader stops taking risks because there is too much to lose…he is closer to losing everything than he actually realizes. We don’t follow a Savior who played it safe, if He said “take up your cross and follow me” then we need to understand that sacrifice and risk WILL be involved if we want to go where He is leading.