You have the ambition to make something of whom God created you to be, which is good. The Apostle Paul noted this in his letter to Timothy. So, let me summarize 1 Timothy 3:1 like this: 

You can take this to the bank and count on it; it’s noble work to seek leadership. 

In TMP, we are looking for people like you who are accomplished in their lives in many other places. The truth is that much of that accomplishment was under your own bias for action and gumption for achievement. Being in leadership in the Kingdom orients us to a highly collaborative process with God that is often daunting.  I’ve said before that your calling should terrify you because it’s beyond your reach. I want to further this from a place of uncertainty to that of power.

Going for it in leadership service in the Kingdom is one of equipping yourself differently than anything the world or the culture has ever told you. In the world, the position is the power source, but in the Kingdom, that’s the one that deceives. What you are after is a race to connect to a radiating power of Christ’s work in you—something so led by The Spirit that your accomplishments are beyond what you could do alone. 

Do you know how to get and keep power? How do you get to a place where your grip is one even death can’t overtake? You will need to know how this works for the sake of your calling.

I want to investigate this unseen power that can move people in the direction of God through your leadership. Where does this power come from?  Here are the critical areas of leadership I’m focused on right now:

• Serve – Jesus’ standard for leaders is service, and that is an increasing amount. Focusing on others’ needs while executing the mission God gave you is critical.

• Pray – Prayer focuses on bending our soul and spirit to conform to Him. Prayer is a place where the physical meets the spiritual; right now, what I’m doing more of – praying on my knees. Why? It’s certainly not religious. It has everything to do with moving my body to connect with my soul and spirit. I approach the Trinity in the mindset of “your will, not mine.”

• Recognize His Power – In Acts 5, talking about the first movement for Christ, the Pharisee, Gamaliel, said about the Apostles, “…if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men…” In our work as leaders, we must recognize that success comes from God while I put my best effort forward. The sweet spot is the tension (that I nurture) of my work connecting to God’s power to do what I cannot. The approach is that I’m going after a calling that’s beyond me, using the best of me, and trusting in the power of the Trinity. Otherwise, it won’t be. A fool’s approach is to undo that tension into a work done by me or a plan God does without me.

• Know Your Mission – What are you aiming for? For what were you called into service? Mission confidence helps you stay the course and call others to join you in something eternal.  It also lets you discern what to steer clear of so you don’t drift. 

• Replicate Yourself – Studying Exodus 18, we can see Moses’ bottlenecked leadership. To have a profound impact, we must delegate and replicate ourselves into trusting others for more service to the mission. Otherwise, you’ll severely limit the multiplier of God’s work through you.

Many of you look at the work that came from God, through Bob Shank, to create The Master’s Program and think, “How can they carry on at Bob’s level of achievement?” So many times over the last year, I have heard how big Bob’s shoes are to fill. I don’t think about it. If God is in this, then He will radiate well past my best work so that He gets all the glory. 

You, too, can be encouraged along with me to know that if you are in your calling, and it terrifies you, run into the five points above and hide in the fact that our God will get glory whether we receive fame or languish in obscurity during this life. So let’s fix our eyes and our efforts on an eternal prize promised!

In your corner,

Jeff Gerhardt

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