With that understanding in mind, we take scripture and communicate it in a way that brings truth to minds and hearts that are hungry for peace and a world that doesn’t always make sense.
2. Lead With Empathy
Most leaders currently deal with elevated levels of prolonged stress. Not commonly debilitating, but if it continues long enough, the compounding nature can dull or even numb empathy to human need.
That’s never a good place to lead from.
Empathy is the ability, or at least the genuine attempt, to understand what someone else is feeling or what it’s like to be in their shoes.
You may never fully grasp what it means to walk in the steps of another’s pain, but that does not prevent you from leading from a place of empathy. You can feel enough to understand and make a connection.
Genuine empathy requires enough personal health and strength to engage another person’s troubles, the ability to slow down and listen, have some margin, and the disposition to do what you can.
Not easy, right? Exactly! That’s why genuine empathy can seem uncommon.
Empathy is nearly impossible to extend from a leader who is constantly on the go, dealing with an over-crowded calendar, stressed, and living a pressure-filled life.
If that is you, it doesn’t mean you don’t care; it means there isn’t enough margin left to connect through genuine empathy.
3. Lead With Faith and Conviction
God is with you, and He is for you; that is the foundation of your faith and fodder for all the conviction you need to lead with confidence.
You can lead with relevance, hospitality, and empathy, but at some point, direction comes into the mix.
People first decide if they want to be with you (if they like you,) but they soon want to know where you are going (can you help them go somewhere closer to a life they desire.)
You need faith and conviction to know that you are leading the church in the right direction.
Without a sense of vision and direction, even though they sense your relevance and know that you care, they will soon drift from merely attending.
Making it possible for each person to participate in something larger than they can see or realize on their own (vision) is essential to engagement.
4. Lead With Truth
Almost daily, I hear this phrase, “I don’t know who or what to believe.”
The world is hungry for truth, and as a messenger of the gospel, you have the truth, and the truth will set people free.
We’ve always had “troubles.” Right?
Jesus, Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33)
