Tuesday morning at our all staff meeting for Eastbrook Church, we watched a message by Bill Hybels called “The 360-Degree Leader.” It sparked some meaningful conversation around the topic of self-leadership or self-care. Here are ten questions that Hybels recommended for every leader to consider in relation to self-leadership. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these questions.
- Is my calling sure?
- Is my vision clear?
- Is my passion burning hot?
- Is my character fully submitted to Christ?
- Is my pride subdued?
- Are my fears at bay?
- Is my psychological baggage effecting current decisions?
- Are my ears open to the Spirit’s promptings?
- Is my pace sustainable?
- Is my heart for God increasing or decreasing?
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Matthew Erickson 
Hi, Matt & Co, –
Great post – interesting questions. Dare I add two others?
11. Is Christ at the center of my ministry, or am I? (On the surface, I think we would all say that it’s all about Jesus, but sometimes I find myself thinking it’s more about me than it should be. Am I doing what I do to fill a need that I have, or is everything I do truly centered on Jesus?)
12. The the main goal of my leadership and ministry the magnification of God’s glory, or am I the one getting the glory? (Again, this is related to #11; I’d like to think that God is the one getting the glory, but how often do I accept the “props” from others that belong to Jesus? When the instrument gets acknowledged more than the musician, something is wrong.)
Any thoughts?
Rejoice!
Jim
Jim,
I always appreciate your thoughtful comments. ‘Yes’ and ‘yes’, to the two questions you added. It is a great need to keep Christ at the center and His glory as our aim. This was some of the direction of our discussion as a staff.
A follow-up question for you: How do you discern when God is truly getting glory through you?
Now THAT is a tough question! If I could answer that, I’d probably be a pastor! 🙂
As I sit here trying to answer your question, I realize how difficult it is to discern when God is getting the glory and when I am usurping it for myself. As with many things in my Christian walk, there is a disconnect between what I know is truth and what I experience in daily living…
Perhaps my best attempt at answering this great question would be to consider whether or not what I was doing is something I could accomplish in my own strength or not. If it is something that I can do on my own, then God is an unnecessary part of the equation; He gets no glory, for He had no involvement in it. But if I am involved with, or join in with, something that is “God-sized”, something that there is no way I could possibly that I could pull it off, then not only is God necessary in the equation, but He IS the equation! And that’s when His glory is maximized; He gets the credit, because He was the one that accomplished it!
But in some ways, that answer is too simplistic. God gives each of us talents and abilities that He calls us to use for His sake. So we work and strive and attempt to do His bidding as best we can. We preach or lead worship or teach or care for orphans in Ghana as best we can, as that is His calling on our lives, hoping that what we do might draw attention to the greatness of God.
So then it boils down to motivation and purpose and source of the strength. and “effort”. Am I doing this working or striving or attempting to see myself exalted or to see Jesus exalted? And who is the source of the talents or abilities in which these things are being done? And who ultimately is the one who can bring about the change of heart that results from our preaching? Who is ultimately the one who can save the orphan? Surely, if we really look at it objectively, it is Christ alone that does it; we just cooperate with Him by joining with Him in what He is doing. (Even as I answer this question, I need to look objectively at my motivation; am I doing this because I want Matt to think I’m smart or super-spiritual, or is it because I want to see God glorified in my written response?)
It’s like my friend Brian in Ghana always says – our purpose is to be “glory reflectors”. We need to continually be mindful of the fact that, whether it is the “God-sized” thing or the smaller human “efforts”, that Jesus is the Source of it all. John 15:5 reminds us that without Him, we can do nothing; if that is our attitude in all things, then we will glorify Him in all things. His glory is displayed as we reflect His greatness and give Him credit to Him for the big and small things in our life.
I don’t know if this answers the question or not – it raises more questions in my mind than I think it answers. Perhaps a reader of this blog has some thoughts on this as well…
To God be the GLORY!
Jim