Lead Well

Eight years ago my lead pastor said something I will never forget. He had just cast the vision to go multisite and had received approval from the board. I was ecstatic for the upcoming challenges and the “prestige” of becoming a children’s pastor of multiple campuses. As we were walking to the children’s area, I started to share with him my plans for the ministry when he abruptly stopped me. He said, “David, I’m not planning on you being the children’s pastor of both campuses. You have to grow in leadership before I can trust you to do that. You will probably just be here at this campus.” I’ll be honest. That knocked me down a couple of pegs. I was devastated to say the least, but the dream was born. It was big. It was scary. It was roaring at me like a 500-pound lion. I didn’t know what to do or where to go, but I knew I had my marching orders. What is your 500-pound dream? What is the one thing you know God has called you to do? Does it scare you? If so, good. Is it risky?

The great thing about leaders is that they are always pushing the status quo. A great leader is never satisfied with the way things are and push to make them better.  Many leaders have a dream.  Whether it was planted in their hearts at a young age or discovered later in life, leaders have a desire to go places and take others with them. Unfortunately, our lives are not easy.  If we could accomplish our dreams as fast as we could pop a bag of popcorn then it wouldn't be a dream.  Dreams take time.  They take growth. They take persistence.  They take endurance.  Dreams bring about fear, joy, sadness, relief, frustration, and victory.  Ask someone who has achieved their dream, and they'll tell you the hardest parts and the most joy-filled.  They will tell you of seasons that brought pain, but ultimately made them better for it. I imagine if we were able to sit down with Joseph at the end of his life, he would tell us of all the bad things, but also the good things.  What h