Leadership Can Be a Pain in the Grass

Introduction

It doesn’t take long after graduation from a collegiate institution to realize that the road to your dreams and aspirations will likely be more challenging than first imagined.  Unless you are one of the few who rose to the top of their game quickly and with ease, you know what I am talking about.  When it comes to leading people, especially those aligned with a common faith, the task can be rather daunting.  A cynic once said that “ministry would be great if it wasn’t for the people”.  Yet that is our task; people.  People who need leadership but many times to resist or reject it.  In a continual attempt to remain a student of the Word and gain wisdom in my own leadership, I offer the following metaphor.  Because if we neglect it, leadership will simply be a pain in the grass.

The Metaphor

When it comes to lawn maintenance and gardening, I am the last person you want to take advice from.  Sure, I can mow, weed, and blow a yard without the homeowners association getting in an uproar,  but keeping it green, flowers blooming and weed free, that is another story.  The dilemma may lie in my propensity toward coming up with illustrations like this rather than focusing on the task at hand.  The steady hum of the mower, a pair of ear plugs and I am in another world.  Writing songs, dreaming up crazy ideas,  designing an expansion to my house, or some other ministry related project.  From the recesses of my own imagination and poor landscaping abilities comes this metaphor.  A metaphor comparing life, or in this case, ministry life with lawn maintenance.  Sounds riveting right?  I’ll let you be the judge.

In the fall of 2010, I purchased a new home to go with the new ministry I entered into a few months earlier.  It is a wonderful home and I am still amazed at how blessed I am to live in such a place.  The one drawback; the yard.  I have been told it looks better than it has in years by the neighbors, but all I can see are the present problems and the dollar signs involved in getting it right.  Without the capital to simply start over, I have begun the process of redeeming this lawn to the glory of God.  Okay, that is an overstatement but you get the point.  The project is fraught with systemic issues and years of neglect, so the task may be long and difficult at times.

There are some basic principles that I am trying to follow in getting my lawn moving in the right direction.  I believe these principles may also have a direct impact on leading ministries.  Imperfect and fraught with challenges, our ministries and their people need our attention, love, and endurance if we are going to be healthy and eternally successful.  The next seven posts will outline the metaphor and the applications of it.

To Be Continued…