Leadership Passion



Thom Rainer, in his 2005 book Breakout Churches, lists PASSION in leadership as the one ingredient that kept showing up in all the churches that had a "breakout moment. So I ask, where does a leader get passion, you can't buy passion at your local Walmart store, you can't get it by working-out at the local gym, so where does a leader get his passion?

Passion is that powerful and compelling emotion that drives a leader to reach his goals, or to fulfill his mission or vision. Without passion, no leader has ever lasted long enough to reach his goal. Without passion all leaders will fall into the slough of despond or the swamp of despair.

So, what is the fuel that feeds passion? What is the fuel that keeps passion alive in the leaders core being? Certainly, for the follower of Christ it is a surrendered heart and will to the King, to the Lord of the universe. The Leader who becomes a servant of Christ is fueled by the power of his King's vision, he is fueled and empowered by the love that he owes to his King.

When Leaders align themselves with Christ's vision for His church, they will be filled with passion and empowered to carry out their King's mission. Any leader who has been in a leadership position for any length of time will tell you that they are always realigning their lives to God's plan and His vision. This aligning of the leader's life to the will of Christ is what the apostle Paul meant when he said,  "For to me, living means living for Christ" (Philippians 1:21).

Rainer's research team discovered that leadership passion manifests itself when leaders have a clear grasp of their ministry passions (p.117). This clear grasp of ministry passion comes when the leader aligns himself with the King's vision.

.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Character traits of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Image
I've been reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I'm on page 81 of a book that has over 500 pages. There has been many things that have moved me and inspired me in the 80 pages that I've taken in, but today I'd like to share some of the remarkable character traits that Eric Metaxas has gleaned from Bonhoeffer's family friends, and college professors. Now keep in mind that these character traits that I'd like to share were ascribed to Bonhoeffer when he was still just a teenager or a very young man. Bonhoeffer received his doctorate degree in theology at the age of 21. He had already decided to become a theologian as a young teen, but if you read the book you will find that God began to give Bonhoeffer a pastoral heart and eventually he went into the pastorate. Listed below are just a few of the character traits that were used to describe a young precoucius Bonhoeffer: 1. A fellow member of the Igel -pronounced eagle-means he
Read more

Our Executive branch a clear and present danger.

Image
Those of you who are political junkies like me may appreciate this short analysis of America's dangerous devotion to Executive power. I think that we can all agree that our political system has been corrupted by an out-of-control unchecked Executive that has moved so very far from the limited powers and modest goals that our Framers gave us in 1787. Like Israel of old we have cried for a King and our oligarchy was more than willing to give us one. Do you remember the story in 1 Samuel 8 where the people come to an aged and worn out Samuel and asked for a King?...They told Samuel they wanted to be like the other nations. God then spoke to the people through Samuel that a king is going to be expensive - both financially and in terms of lost freedom, yet, in spite of all these warnings straight from God, the people still wanted a king. For some reason, it seems that the Israelites were oblivious to the price of having a king. God warned them that a king would be costly both
Read more

Faith-Fueled-Leadership

One aspect of leadership that is absent from most books is the dimension of faith. Faith certainly takes leadership to a whole new level. Now, I can already hear the boos from the crowd, so let me silence the critics real quick. I'm not talking about the faith that says, "let me jump off this building and believe that God will protect me." But I'm talking about a faith that trusts and relies on God to do some big things in our lives and in the lives of those who we lead. I think of Moses and Joshua who led with faith and EXPECTED God to do great things. If you're leading others, lead with faith, believing that God can bust into any situation and turn things around for His Glory and Honor. Steve Furtick, in his book Sun Stand Still sums up this kind of faith filled leadership this way when he says: Dream God-worthy dreams. Pray faith-fueled prayers. Live a life that can be explained only by the existence of a God who is infinitely great.
Read more