5. My performance
Ask:
- Am I being a team builder or a one-person show?
- What am I doing that someone else can do?
- Have I communicated clearly to all my workers about their roles?
- Am I a clear and skillful communicator?
- Am I skilled at solving problems?
- Can people rely on me to complete assignments and keep commitments?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would I rate my level of leadership?
- Am I meeting the needs of children and families in my church? in my community?
It’s up to you to assess your strengths and weaknesses on a regular basis. If you make self evaluation a habit, you’ll grow as a leader!
As I think about these five areas, I also ask what I’m doing that I need to say no to. As I evaluate each area, I need to remember to say yes to the right things. I also must say no to things I have no business doing.
Making time to think about better strategies and making time to listen and evaluate will make a difference in your leadership. The more you stop for self evaluation, the more you’ll be able to navigate change in life and ministry.
Go ahead, I double-dog dare you. Do you some thinking. It will change your life and ministry!
One More Thing to Evaluate
There’s one big way to destroy kids’ faith in the Bible. And if you’re doing it, you may be doing more damage than you realize. It seems benign, but I always think about the warning in Galatians 6:7 “You will reap what you sow.” Are you sure you’re sowing the right things in kids’ hearts when it comes to the Word of God that’ll bear fruit for a lifetime?
I’m always struck by how modern culture refers to biblical content. They often call them “Sunday school stories.” STORIES! Are stories to be believed? A case in point: My son and I saw the Avengers movie this weekend. One super-hero asked another, “Have you ever heard of the tale of Jonah?” THE TALE!? Is a tale to be believed?
No! Stories, fables, tales, myths…all fiction.
So what do we do at church? We have Bible storybooks and Bible story time. We refer to the truths in Scripture as Bible stories. How do we expect children to believe for a lifetime that these things actually happened?
Even worse, some people refer to the entire Bible as the “Big God Story.” Some even refer to God as the “main character” in the “Big God Story.”
Yikes! We will reap what we sow. If we’re guilty of fictionalizing God’s Word, how will our children ever believe in its truth?
Self Evaluation: 4 Things You May Need to Change
1. Cut out Bible story lingo.
Instead of saying, “In our Bible story today,” we write into our lessons, “In the Bible today.”
2. Never refer to anyone in the Bible as a character, especially God!
The people we read about in the Bible were actual people. And they interacted with a living person, God. The Bible is a historical account. Would we refer to Winston Churchill as a character from history? No!
3. Change your lingo.
In my 2-year-old class, we have “Bible time” instead of “Bible story time.”
4. Affirm the truth of Scripture.
When you open the Bible with kids, tell them, “This is God’s special book that he wrote to us.” Treat the Bible with great honor and respect, because it’s more than a book.
If I ruled the world (or at least the church, which I don’t), I’d cleanse these things from our vocabulary. Let’s turn the tide by not referring to the Bible as just a collection of stories and tales. Rather, it’s truth from God to stake our lives on!
