Since responding to God’s call to move across the country and plant City on a Hill Church, God has taught me some valuable lessons. I thought I’d share just a few of them with you. These aren’t necessarily brand new lessons for me. Some are simply reminders that God had to bring to the forefront of my mind again.
Below are five of the top ten lessons. I’ll post the other five tomorrow. Hopefully, the lessons I’ve learned the hard way will be lessons you can learn the easy way. Is there really an easy way to learn a lesson, though?
1 – Christian leadership isn’t for sissies.
I don’t mean to sound sexist when I say that because I believe women are called to leadership as well. I simply mean that you better pull your boot straps up when you assume a leadership position. Why? Other than the obvious challenges that come when leading a group of people, leaders become targets. The bigger impact you’re having for the Kingdom of God, the bigger the bulls eye is on your chest. You better be prepared for spiritual attacks from the enemy from every angle. And I mean, from every angle – angles you didn’t even know existed. Not only are you being attacked, but those around you (family, friends) are also being attacked because of you. At this very moment, my children are the target of attacks from Satan. Why? Because they're easier targets than I, and distraction is a great weapon. I’ve had to learn to really fight the spiritual battle. There’s nothing like praying for your family and friends in the wee hours of the morning.
2 – You can’t win ‘em all.
Jesus gave us the most important statistics lesson we’ll ever learn in the parable of the sower. He taught us that only 25% of the people who begin a relationship with God will grow to become who God wants them to be. That means that 75% will experience epic failure. Only 1 out of every 4 people will hear God’s voice and grow to maturity. This is a tough lesson to learn when you’ve invested yourself into someone who chooses to follow their flesh over Christ. It can be heart-breaking. I won’t ever stop trying to reach the world for Christ, though – even if my heart gets broken hundreds of more times.
3 – Don’t be distracted by all the chatter, and stay focused on God’s voice.
There will be people who will question your motive and your methods. It never fails. It’s easy to get caught up with trying to answer their questions. Soon, you’re so distracted that you’re hearing their voices instead of God’s voice inside your head. At some point, you’ve got to make a decision to stop listening to all of the chatter and get back to basics. Stay focused on the voice of the Lord.
4 – Don’t ever substitute the opinion of the “Experts” for God’s will.
The so-called “Experts” have all kinds of opinions about the methodology of church planting and church leading. These are great tools to use to equip you and prepare you for leadership. We can’t make the mistake in thinking there are only a certain number of ways to do what God’s calling you to do. If God calls you to something, He doesn’t sit back and say, “Okay, now go figure it out for yourself!” Of course not! He’s the kind of God who calls you to a task and then gives you the instructions on how to do it – if you’re willing to listen and follow those instructions.
There isn’t an expert out there who would have condoned the way we planted and launched City on a Hill Church. The bottom line, though, was it was how God wanted it done. Don’t ask me why. Maybe someday I’ll figure it all out. I just know that listening to God’s voice and following His instructions beats any book or conference that’s out there.
5 – Once someone’s mind is made up to leave a local church, there’s no changing it.
This is one of those lessons I learned a long time ago, but God brought it back to the front of the line. When someone has decided he/she’s going to leave your church, there’s nothing that the pastor or leadership can do to keep them. Nothing! All kinds of reasons can be offered, and those concerns can be discussed and assuaged. But it won’t matter. At that point, it’s more about pride than anything else. The person(s) who wants to leave could be given insurmountable evidence against their accusations. He’s still going to leave. I’ve been reminded that there are lots of people out there like that, unfortunately. My prayers and best wishes go with them.
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