The other day I was sitting at a red light and when the light turned green, I thought I had inadvertently stopped at the light pole of Maple Grove Speed Way. At the precise moment as the light turned green, the SUV beside me put the pedal to the metal and tore off easily eclipsing my car as they sped down the section of highway where two lanes merged into one. When we got to the next red light, less than a quarter mile away, sure enough they had finished one car length ahead of me. There was no crowd to burst into applause, no checkered flag, no trophy, but they had gotten to the next stop and now they were a whole car length ahead of me sitting there waiting, just like I was, for the light to turn green.
How often do we carry that same mentality in ministry. Desiring to be “one up” on anyone else. Well, I am the leader here, I need to be the most gifted, have the most powerful testimony, be the best speaker, make sure my story gets told, carry the most weight, share on this …….. be the most………….
I think as leaders our main focus is to pour into people to see them be the best that they can be. Jesus said something along the lines of if you want to be great, you need to be least. Maybe another way to say it is if you want to win the prize, you need to come in second place. After all, placing someone else as more important than yourself only puts you one car length behind and that isn’t far at all. Furthermore, as a leader is should bring you great joy when others perform ahead of you. Great leaders don’t always finish first. In fact many times great leaders encourage others to go faster, because taking care of the ones the Lord gives us is our most important role, even if we finish one car length behind.
D.O.V.E.