Leader to Leader
“...It seemed good also to me....”
[Luke 1:3 NIV]
Issue #4: January, 2008
Where are you?
Where are you as a LEADER?
Ten or more years ago I learned a unique definition of “leader.” We, a group of church members, were going somewhere. I think it was a trip to Laguna’s “Pageant of the Masters.” We had rented a 15-passenger van, which I was driving. Bill and Ocilda Files also drove a car full of church members. Ruth Hebor rode with Bill and Ocilda. Somewhere on a freeway in Orange County, Bill lost sight of the van and asked where I was. He was looking around. He was looking behind. Ruth Hebor piped up, as only she could, saying that I was ahead of them. Then, in true Ruth fashion, she continued with some quip like, “Where would you expect Pastor to be? He’s our shepherd!” Ruth put her finger on an important leadership principle. A leader needs to lead. A leader needs to be out in front.
Again I ask you, “Where are you as a LEADER?”
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines a “leader” as “one that leads as: 1. A guide; conductor. 2. A chief; commander; also, the head of a group, sect, undertaking, etc. 3. A horse placed in advance of others.”
Where are you as a LEADER?
Do you fulfill Webster’s definitions #1 and #2? By your simple election or appointment on Historic First Lutheran’s Board of Directors each of you, I believe, automatically satisfy definitions #1 and #2.
How about definition #3?
Do you lead by being in “advance of others?”
Do you lead others in your spirituality?
Do you lead others in worship attendance?
Do you lead others in personal Bible study and in corporate Bible study?
Do you lead others by being the first to arrive and the last to leave?
Do you lead others by just doing what needs to be done instead of looking for others to do what needs to be done?
Do you lead others in stewardship, the appropriate use of your God-given time, talents and treasures?
Those are all personal questions which only you can answer for yourself after searching your heart.
As your leader, and as the spiritual leader of Historic First Lutheran, I have always tried to fulfill Webster’s definition #3. While I have been largely successful many times, I realize there are times I have failed. That’s part of being human, part of the condition of living in our fallen human world. When I have reflected upon my leadership failures (most times with self-disappointment and shame), I have found myself back before the Cross of our Savior Jesus. There I lay my leadership failures. There I find His forgiveness. There I draw strength from our ultimate leader to set new goals and new self-commitments.
As I mentioned during our Board of Directors’ meeting a couple weeks ago, this is a critical year in re-evaluating, reshaping and remolding our identity as Historic First Lutheran. The members of Historic First Lutheran are looking to me and to each of you to lead them out in advance, to set the direction for us as a congregation “Becoming GREAT in 2008.” If you and I step up and allow the Lord Jesus to make us into the leaders He would have us to be and into the leaders that are so needed right now, Historic First Lutheran will be a different looking place next year. If you and I simply claim our leadership based upon our election or appointment, things at Historic First Lutheran will be pretty much the same place next year and the year after that and the year after that.
My personal style of leadership is not to operate with a harsh hand or with words of rebuke and shame. My personal style of leadership is to operate through encouragement. I hope you see that and sense that in me. I hope we will each grow in our leadership this year and lead others by being out in advance of them, defining the way for them and making their path easier as someone else has already walked that path.
God bless your leadership this month! Thanks for reading!
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Senior / Administrative Pastor
Historic First Lutheran Church, Pasadena, CA