Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in doing so will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.” Euguene B. Habecker
These are the two things that I shared with our leaders Sunday night in our IGNITE Staff Meeting. I casted some vision to let them know that we are about to get in over our heads in ministry. We are expecting close to 200 students next week at IGNITE with the rising 6th Graders attending for the first time. We are taking 80 of them with us on an event this week called the UPRISING.
With that in mind, I challenged them to be on the look out for GREAT leaders. Those people who will be leaders in the truest sense of the word…a servant. A person who will come to IGNITE and a have a desire to serve the students in their small group and will be willing to do it when they do not get all the praise in the world. A leader who is motivated out of a desire to serve Jesus through serving our students. A leader who understands that it is worth the price to serve these students. A leader who is willing to listen to the sad stories, broken hearted laments, wipe away the tears, listen intently to what they are saying, and do their best to relate to them.
As a leader it takes time, energy, effort, preparation (spiritual, emotional, mental), and love. As a leader this is the price we pay to work with our students. Please know…IT IS WORTH THE PRICE WE PAY! The rewards and benefits are through the roof. When a student accepts Christ…it is worth the price we pay. When a student grows in their faith…it is worth the price we pay. When the light-bulb comes on after multiple conversations… it is worth the price we pay. When they tell their friends about Christ…it is worth the price we pay.
Come join us if you would like to see an infinite return on your investment into the lives of students! Contact us here is you are a member of NewSpring and want to be part of something amazing!
July 17th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Alden, Thanks for posting this. I was writing a letter inviting some people to work on the Children’s Ministry Team and I used some of your verbage as you said it perfectly.
Thanks!