OK, so lets talk about the last lesson - 1 Corinthians 13, the context of the chapter states that you can put on whatever kind of show you want, but without Love, it all means nothing in the long run. Here is where I begin what may be considered a tangent, but IMHO, very much related. Here we go -
Leadership & Faith, to me, go hand in hand. I’ve have been involved with both for a very long time and have always noticed very large trends in both to be almost identical. Re-reading what is probably my favorite leadership book especially sparks this in me. The book is called the Radical LEAP, by Steve Farber, and if you hate leadership books, this one if a must read, because it totally draws you in to a real story that you begin to care about. In a long story short LEAP is an acronym that stands for LOVE, ENERGY, AUDACITY, PROOF. These things, are all central to the Christian experience, and especially based on how the aforementioned book presents them.
First, LOVE, we got into that last week, but here's how it goes down in the book to make you move a little further on the subject. The thought is to Cultivate Love. Now to break that down into little words – sew the seeds that will allow Love to grow all around you. Those seeds are your personal love, whether it be for your job, your family, your friends, or Christ, if you “sew” those seeds by showing real love, then others around you will see that and begin to grow their own plant and sew their own seeds.
Now lets talk about energy, and don’t think I'm contradicting my previous lesson when I say that the Energy attached to the love is just as important as love itself. This is because, similar to putting on that show without the love behind it, having that love without doing something about it is almost as wrong. For a quick example, the last time you fell in love with something, be it a hobby or a person, it was pretty obvious that you spent a lot of energy on that thing. You practiced, you listened, you read about it, you even strategized your future with it and dreamed about the possibilities. Energy like that is contagious. If you apply that energy to your faith, people will see that, and they will latch on. So, in context of the book, you have to Generate energy. Once that energy is generated, it has to go somewhere, and hopefully, it’ll drift into those you come in contact with.
The third piece of this is my favorite, but it’s also the hardest. You have to Inspire Audacity. To jump right to the book, the definition of audacity is “a bold and blatant disregard for normal constraints” but when looking in a thesaurus you will see a couple of different connotations, and depending on which connotation you take as your audacity mantra, you either going to be doing it totally right, or completely wrong. The first one relates to courage, the second to impudence. The first one is about love, the second is about ego. Guess which one I'm leaning on here? Now, audacity in our context means that you aren’t afraid to show that love and that energy, regardless of your current scenario. You can’t shy away from proclaiming your Love and showing your Energy behind your faith. Again, these things are contagious and when others see that you’re not afraid, they're a lot less likely to hold back as well. The guy that wrote the words of the lesson from last week, a little known (insert sarcasm here) rabbi from Tarsis named Paul, also wrote in the book of Romans in Chapter 1 verses 16 & 17 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” Now, this also means that you are going to have morals or beliefs that don’t agree with everyone, brace yourself its going to happen, because lets face it, morals are VERY subjective and there are a LOT of people out there in that world to process their own personal take on faith and morals. Here’s where being audacious comes into play with that, DON’T APOLOGIZE! Yes, you don’t agree with them or vice-versa but as long as you love them for who they are, just as Christ has asked of you, then you’re on the right track. You should never be sorry for your beliefs. So, in short, just DO IT!
Finally, we come to Proof. You have to Provide proof. That doesn’t mean you have to show someone proof that God, or Jesus ever existed. You have to show them proof that they exist through you. Have you connected the dots yet? You and only you, can show that you believe. The ONLY way you can really show you believe is to do, all the time. Now I know that it comes down to the fact that we are human and make mistakes, but that is the beauty of it all. When you make the mistake, don’t hide it. Get out in front of everyone and let them know what you did, why it was wrong, and the fact that all of that is OK, because forgiveness is the built in save-all catch-all clause of our salvation. Yeah, putting yourself out in front of everyone is tough, but the more you do it, the more you grow, and growing is the name of the game, whether its in your faith, or career, or just as an individual in learning.
All of these things start with Love. Love that is defined for those of faith very well in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. Love, that is personal, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Love that will cause you to LEAP into being a leader and showing your faith in Christ. With Church of the Brethren we believe in the call to ministry for everyone. How you accept that call is up to you, because its personal, but accepting that call is a part of this LEAP, and a part of your journey in faith.
Leadership & Faith, to me, go hand in hand. I’ve have been involved with both for a very long time and have always noticed very large trends in both to be almost identical. Re-reading what is probably my favorite leadership book especially sparks this in me. The book is called the Radical LEAP, by Steve Farber, and if you hate leadership books, this one if a must read, because it totally draws you in to a real story that you begin to care about. In a long story short LEAP is an acronym that stands for LOVE, ENERGY, AUDACITY, PROOF. These things, are all central to the Christian experience, and especially based on how the aforementioned book presents them.
First, LOVE, we got into that last week, but here's how it goes down in the book to make you move a little further on the subject. The thought is to Cultivate Love. Now to break that down into little words – sew the seeds that will allow Love to grow all around you. Those seeds are your personal love, whether it be for your job, your family, your friends, or Christ, if you “sew” those seeds by showing real love, then others around you will see that and begin to grow their own plant and sew their own seeds.
Now lets talk about energy, and don’t think I'm contradicting my previous lesson when I say that the Energy attached to the love is just as important as love itself. This is because, similar to putting on that show without the love behind it, having that love without doing something about it is almost as wrong. For a quick example, the last time you fell in love with something, be it a hobby or a person, it was pretty obvious that you spent a lot of energy on that thing. You practiced, you listened, you read about it, you even strategized your future with it and dreamed about the possibilities. Energy like that is contagious. If you apply that energy to your faith, people will see that, and they will latch on. So, in context of the book, you have to Generate energy. Once that energy is generated, it has to go somewhere, and hopefully, it’ll drift into those you come in contact with.
The third piece of this is my favorite, but it’s also the hardest. You have to Inspire Audacity. To jump right to the book, the definition of audacity is “a bold and blatant disregard for normal constraints” but when looking in a thesaurus you will see a couple of different connotations, and depending on which connotation you take as your audacity mantra, you either going to be doing it totally right, or completely wrong. The first one relates to courage, the second to impudence. The first one is about love, the second is about ego. Guess which one I'm leaning on here? Now, audacity in our context means that you aren’t afraid to show that love and that energy, regardless of your current scenario. You can’t shy away from proclaiming your Love and showing your Energy behind your faith. Again, these things are contagious and when others see that you’re not afraid, they're a lot less likely to hold back as well. The guy that wrote the words of the lesson from last week, a little known (insert sarcasm here) rabbi from Tarsis named Paul, also wrote in the book of Romans in Chapter 1 verses 16 & 17 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” Now, this also means that you are going to have morals or beliefs that don’t agree with everyone, brace yourself its going to happen, because lets face it, morals are VERY subjective and there are a LOT of people out there in that world to process their own personal take on faith and morals. Here’s where being audacious comes into play with that, DON’T APOLOGIZE! Yes, you don’t agree with them or vice-versa but as long as you love them for who they are, just as Christ has asked of you, then you’re on the right track. You should never be sorry for your beliefs. So, in short, just DO IT!
Finally, we come to Proof. You have to Provide proof. That doesn’t mean you have to show someone proof that God, or Jesus ever existed. You have to show them proof that they exist through you. Have you connected the dots yet? You and only you, can show that you believe. The ONLY way you can really show you believe is to do, all the time. Now I know that it comes down to the fact that we are human and make mistakes, but that is the beauty of it all. When you make the mistake, don’t hide it. Get out in front of everyone and let them know what you did, why it was wrong, and the fact that all of that is OK, because forgiveness is the built in save-all catch-all clause of our salvation. Yeah, putting yourself out in front of everyone is tough, but the more you do it, the more you grow, and growing is the name of the game, whether its in your faith, or career, or just as an individual in learning.
All of these things start with Love. Love that is defined for those of faith very well in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. Love, that is personal, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Love that will cause you to LEAP into being a leader and showing your faith in Christ. With Church of the Brethren we believe in the call to ministry for everyone. How you accept that call is up to you, because its personal, but accepting that call is a part of this LEAP, and a part of your journey in faith.
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