Most of us gravitate to people that are like us, don’t we? In our Rolling Hills Community Church monthly staff meetings, we often use some fun device to split up our teams. Left alone, our teams will sit with each other because that’s what they’re comfortable with. All of us as Godly leaders tend to do the same thing – hang with the people that we’re most comfortable with. But, is that really the best strategy over time? It’s been said by several people through the years that everyone needs three types of people in their lives – a champion, a mentor, and a friend. I’m not disagreeing with that assertion. However, I think it is essential for Godly Leaders to go a step further.
The 3 types of people Godly Leaders need in their lives are:
#1 – THOSE THAT NEED THE LOVE OF JESUS.
I work at a church – a great church. My work hours, a lot of my social hours, and Sunday hours are with people from church. While that’s great and all, as a Godly leader we have a mission from Jesus found in Luke 19:10. Jesus’s mission statement is found there: “He came to seek and to save that which was lost.” If that was His mission statement on earth and as Christians, we are “little Christs,” then that is our mission statement as well.
That means that we are looking at the baseball sidelines at our kids’ games, our work environments, our neighborhoods, and our salons and barber shops as places to develop relationships with people who need the love of Jesus. We do it so that they will know and be with Him forever. We do it to keep our focus on the mission. We do it so that we will understand the thinking and lifestyles of those who don’t know Jesus to help us lead well. We do it for love.
If you are stuck in a Christian bubble, Godly Leader, let me encourage you to realize and recognize that it is essential to start with a simple prayer: “Lord, help me to have a heart for those that need you and open doors to friendships I don’t currently have.” Pray that prayer and watch what God does!
#2 – THOSE THAT AREN’T INTIMIDATED OR AFRAID TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.
It’s easy for strong leaders to have “yes men” or “yes women” around them. It isn’t even a strategic plan in many cases (I know it is in some cases, however). Sometimes it just happens because of your strong leadership and the gathering of life-minded, mission-minded people. It isn’t all a bad thing. However, we all need people who will speak the truth in our lives. Sometimes this has been called, “saying the last 10%.” What that means is that many of us and many people in our lives are willing to say the 90% that’s easy to say. But, how many are willing to say the last 10% that is not easy to say and will probably not be received extremely well?
The reality is that we all have some level of blinders on in life and leadership. First, it is essential for Godly Leaders to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to this fact. Second, it is essential for Godly Leaders to put Godly men and women in our lives, whom we trust, who are trustworthy, and who will share with us the last 10% of truth even when it’s not fun, wanted, or easy. It is also essential that truth is shared correctly. The right truth shared in the wrong way can lead to all kinds of troubles. Ephesians 4:15 gives us great guidance in this regard: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Do you see the connection to speaking the truth in love and maturity in that verse? Godly Leaders are looking to mature themselves and to put other mature Godly Leaders in their lives who will speak the truth, but do it in love.
#3 – THOSE THAT WILL LIFT YOU UP ON A REGULAR BASIS.
Can I just say that sometimes life really sucks? Sorry to be so crass, but it really does at times. Leadership can also really bring us down at times. Godly Leaders are not averse to life’s problems happening either, are we? My two boys played baseball through college. They loved the game. In middle school and high school, they took lessons from Coach Bobby. Coach Bobby was a high-level Division 1 coach who really knew that game. He also knows the psyche of his players. Each 30-minute lesson consisted of 10 minutes of building the student up, 10 minutes in the middle of pressing hard for greater results, and the final 10 minutes of encouraging and lifting up the player. My boys would come home after each lesson and tell my wife that they were the greatest players in the history of the game! She would ask me, “Why do they always think they’re the best ever?” I told her it was because of Coach Bobby lifting them up. Then when one of them would go 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in a game, I knew that I needed to get them to Coach Bobby for a lesson and, more importantly, to be lifted up.
Godly Leader, we need all the “Coach Bobby’s” of life and leadership in our lives when we go 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in leadership or life. It is essential to pray for these kinds of people, to look for these kinds of people, and to keep them close once we’ve found them. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 is a great guide for how these encouragers usually operate: “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
There they are – the three types of people Godly Leaders need in their lives. I encourage you to evaluate, pray about, and then seek to go next level in your network using this blog as a Godly Leader relational guide. I’m here praying for you and cheering you on!
We could talk a lot more on this topic, but we’ll leave it there for now. What are your thoughts or questions? Leave them in the comments.
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Love being on this Essential Godly Leadership journey with you!
Essential Godly Leadership: “Leading your life, your family, your work, your relationships, and your world in a way that is seeking wisdom from, and pleasing to, the Lord Jesus.”