Three Postures of Leadership (Stewardship)

Matthew 25 describes in great detail 2 views of stewardship. They might even be called "postures of leadership". Jesus tells the story of a ruler who left his belongings to his 3 servants before he departed for a long journey.  The hope of the ruler was to find his belongings increased when he returned. However, upon returning from his journey he was filled with mixed emotions. 2 of the servants took what was entrusted to them and doubled their worth. However, one servant buried that which was entrusted to him and did nothing to increase its worth. The ruler was very displeased with this servant.

This story equates greatly with what we might find in leadership today. Every leader is held accountable for their responsibility as a leader. We have all been given gifts by which we must use for the purpose of building value.  The way we view our leadership might be called "posturing". In other words, how we "carry" ourselves as leaders.

The Mismanager

One posture of leadership might be called "mismanagement".  Mismanages are very easy to recognize. With their hands covering their face in disgust at their own mismanagement, they can't stand to even look at themselves. They've mismanaged their money, relationships, positions and their life.  No one wants to be known for being a "mismanager". 

The Manager

A manager, by definition, is someone who simply maintains... they manage. Their goal is to keep the machine going. Because of fear, their highest possible achievement is to simple NOT crash. In the manager's logic, success is simply "getting by", "being balanced" and "not muddying the waters". Because no one wants to be a "mismanager", they settle for just being a manager. The posture of a manager is that of a man who is "balancing" his way through life... just trying to get to the other side without falling.

The Motivator

God has called leaders to lead. He has not called us to manage anything. Leaders lead and managers manage. Leaders are leaders because they are going somewhere. The really great leaders are always reaching for more. They are motivated by their vision. Their desire is to be used of God as an implementer of all He has entrusted them with. Taking what God has given them and bringing out its potential and value.

Much can be said about "mismanagers" and "managers". Perhaps the greatest thing that can be said about them was said by Christ in this story. Verse 26 says, "His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant...” May we desire today to be leaders and not managers.

What is your stewardship posture? Are your hands covering your face in shame due to your mismanagement of what God has given you? Are you striving to simply be balanced in life, never testing the waters due to fear? Or are you expressing your leadership by reaching higher and higher for God and His Kingdom?

Are you struggling in prayer?

If you struggle at times in your prayer life, you stand in an extremely long line of Christians who find it difficult to pray at times.  I want to give you a few pointers that may help.




1. Schedule a regular time of prayer.

• I recommend that your prayer time be early. This is when Jesus chose to pray to His Father. Mark 1:35
• Make sure that your place of prayer is without distraction if possible.
• I like to have praise music playing softly in the background. I have music uploaded to my computer and just let it play randomly at a low volume.

 2. Use the Bible as a guide to your prayers.

• Reading a chapter of Psalms while you pray and using select verses as a guide to your prayer is a great way to involve the Word in your time of prayer. You can't go wrong with God's Word!

3. Look through your church directory.

• When I struggle in prayer, I like to look through my church directory and thank God for the people that love me in Christ. Gal. 6:10
• This also allows us to remember needs of others as we pray.

4. Pray through the church prayer request list.

• Bro. John Rice posts the church prayer request list at our church. He does this via email each month. He does a wonderful job with this. It's very detailed and gives me much to pray about.

5. Make prayer a dialogue not a monologue.

• In other words, allow the conversation be two sided. Why not ask God what it is that HE would like to talk about? 
• We all know of "conversation dominators". Most of us have the tendency to ignore people who talk too much. Trust me, I know this to be true in my own life (no jokes needed LOL). Literally ask God what it is that HE wants to talk about.
• It's been my experience that God wants to talk about 2 things: 

(1) God wants to talk about Himself. He created all things for Himself and to give Himself glory. 
(2) He wants to talk about why we can't talk about Him. In other words. If we CAN'T talk about Him, what is the reason? More often than not, it is a sin in our lives that needs to be repented of.

Note: remember that prayer is not our method of getting our wish list. Though we may utilize the time we have with God making requests, this is not the only reason we pray. Prayer should be our time to fellowship with the creator. Remember, if at the end of your prayer time, you receive nothing more than Jesus, you have been successful at reaching the throne of God. I hope these things help you in your prayer life. 

Press or Cut?

Have you noticed how easy it is, when facing some dilemma, to very quickly begin to think of what might be the easiest way to avoid the problem? For instance, when we are stretched thin on time we quickly begin to consider what we might cut from our agenda. While this isn't uncommon, and many times may ultimately be our only option, we are way too quick to assume that "easy" is best.  Another example can be found in church. We are often way too quick to "cut" instead of "press". Again, cutting may ultimately be our only option, but we must not be so quick to jump to that conclusion. In the 1600's an insightful individual coined the term, "...the path of least resistance." May that NOT be our anthem in 2012. Friend, instead of saying "I can't afford that", instead ask, "How can I afford that?"  Do you see how that "pressing" can be better than quitting. In 2012, stop saying "What would be easier." Instead, work hard to do hard things better.

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:14

Pastor Mike