Your ministry is all about vision. you have to believe in what you are doing before you can hope that anyone will follow you and the goals that you have in mind. i remember when i was President of my high school and i thought i knew what leadership and being a leader was all about. i was a total micro-manager and thought that all i had to do was set the course and peeps would follow. now, you can imagine how well that worked. yeah, it didn't.
when i graduated and came on to staff with Cobb i would get my first real lesson in what it meant to use my leadership gifts on a continual basis. now, i believe that i have had a lot of influence while i was growing up, however i never really used those gifts to my full potential. Cobb knew that i had it in me. the guy lead me to christ for crying out loud! if anyone could get through to me and into my thick arrogant skull it was that guy. and he knew it. i didn't know it at the time, but he did.
I bought into his vision and understood after much coaxing and leadership on his part over the next few years that i could do tons for God in ministry. and i needed that belief bestowed in me. especially with all the spiritual warfare that was being waged in my life at the time. The enemy wants us as far away from ministry as possible and it takes the influence of mentors in our lives to keep us on the straight and narrow - or at least as close to that as we can get.
Cobb got me to believe in his vision and then taught me how to harness mine. he knew that i was a big vision guy, even when i did not know that i was. i would have these big ideas all the time and be all over the place in my thinking. i would always be frustrated and not know why i was feeling the way that i was. i wanted to do everything - and i wanted to do it all NOW!!! it was killing me inside. i was frustrated that the peeps who were in my ministry were not understanding what i thought was the right way to do ministry and i thought that i would never get to a place where i felt that i could be effective.
then i remember a conversation that Cobb and i had. he told me that if i wanted to lead others effectively then i was going to have to get my vision in line and understand what i wanted for my group. he believed in my dreams and goals, he just knew that i was not going to reach them with the way i was doing stuff. he helped me to write stuff down and start running for my goals. he told me that i had to meet my staff and students where they were and bring them along with me, rather than the way i was doing stuff - dragging them kicking and screaming behind me. and then he told me the one thing that i did not want to hear. he said to me, "MO, this is going to take some time." Ahhhh!!!
no! the one thing that i did not want to hear. but i knew that he was right. i needed to take the time and invest. but get this. i had to first invest in my dreams and then move them to my peeps. and i started to do stuff that way. and the funniest part was that now that is my favrit part about doing ministry - investing in relationships! so, whatever you are doing, make sure that you are loving on your peeps and giving them the time that they deserve. if they are not grabbing a hold of your vision then guess what, you are not doing something right. find a mentor, someone that can speak into your life, and ask him or her how you are in your communication skills. talk to them about your vision for your group and what you can do to better move it to your peeps. trust me, your mentor knows what you need... but they are not going to tell you unless you ask. so, pick up the fone and get 'er done.
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