There\u2019s a dangerous thing that I see happening among worship leaders and teams in the American Church. This danger isn\u2019t \u201ctoo many Bethel songs\u201d or \u201ctoo much focus on lights and fog machines\u201d. It\u2019s much more simple. The problem I see is the form of leadership that teams are taking in leading their congregations. And while this isn\u2019t typically found in a mantra or written down statement, it\u2019s found in the physical interactions. Well, actually, it\u2019s usually found in the lack of interactions.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve stopped having meaningful interactions with the people we\u2019re called to serve.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t believe we did this intentionally. While there may be some specific instances of shying away after negative encounters (I\u2019m looking straight at all the complainers here), I think we\u2019ve created this lack of meaningful connection with two (beneficial) steps:<\/p>\n Both of these are critically important in leading a healthy team, but I think we\u2019re falling out of balance. When we don\u2019t prioritize meaningful conversation with the people we\u2019re serving, we take on an un-Christlike form of leadership.<\/em><\/strong> Jesus\u2019 main medium of ministry was conversation. He created open spaces to ask questions and gain new understanding of the nature of God.<\/p>\n Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death\u2014 even death on a cross.<\/em> Most of us would probably say that our ministry happens both on and off the platform, but in reality, if we\u2019re not connecting with, hearing the stories of, and being in the lives of those we\u2019re serving, then our ministry is only on the platform. So my challenge this week is to take the steps with your team to lead more like Jesus.<\/p>\n Lead by emptying yourselves<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 emptying yourself of any pride, of the need to have authority, of the need to be right, of the need to be special\u2026<\/p>\n Lead by taking the form of a servant and relating to your humanity<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 have conversations with the people we\u2019re leading, be in their lives, relate to them, be honest and vulnerable, and create real connections.<\/p>\n Lead by laying your life down for others<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 allow yourself to be inconvenienced by people, embrace awkward conversations, and help those you\u2019re serving feel seen by God through you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When we don\u2019t prioritize meaningful conversation with the people we\u2019re serving, we take on an un-Christlike form of leadership. <\/em><\/strong>Jesus\u2019 main medium of ministry was conversation. He created open spaces to ask questions and gain new understanding of the nature of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,24],"tags":[40,41,16,39,38,22,15],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-methodology","category-practical","tag-humility","tag-jesus","tag-methodology","tag-ministry","tag-pride","tag-team","tag-worship"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/unsplash-image-QozzJpFZ2lg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/josiahpalmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n– Philippians 2:5-8 (BSB)<\/strong><\/p>\n