An Inkling
Allow me to brag
on your elders. As I met with them last night, I was reminded again and
again of how richly God has blessed St. Giles with leaders in the way of Jesus.
Here are some facets of their leadership:
They love you.
Many scorn the church, and find it easy to cite reasons for their
derision. But Jesus loves the church -- even knowing what he knows.
And your elders follow Jesus in that way.
They take risks.
The easiest way to "lead" is to find what makes most people the
most comfortable and do it. But that's not leadership in the way of
Jesus, who has this nasty habit of calling us out of our comfort zones.
Your elders follow Jesus in that way, which puts them at risk, both of
failure and of your disapproval. Why would they take such risks?
Well, see number one above: they love you.
They seek God.
They have to. They're in over their heads and they know it.
So they desperately seek God. And in that posture itself they are
leading you in the way of Jesus.
They are
well-partnered in the ECO. God has blessed St. Giles with some amazing
partners in our new denomination. Your elders are being inspired by the
vision casting and sharing of best practices in the ECO in ways far beyond what
we could come up with on our own. Check out their inspiration for yourself
from last month's ECO national gathering. To appreciate your elders'
leadership listen to John Ortberg's sermon: http:/eco-pres.org/resources/videos/.
Then to understand some of our new mission directions, watch Alan
Hirsch's three videos: http://vimeo.com/channels/2014nationalgathering.
We're on an
adventure here, and the Lord has provided some fine leaders in the way of
Jesus. Let's go together!
Blessings,
Keith
