Pastoring is different when you are young

All of my life, I have tried to be older than I am.  

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a bigger kid.

When I was in middle school, I was ready to be in high school.

When I was a high schooler, I kept looking forward to college.

In college, I was ready for a career.

When I was single, I anticipated marriage.

Now I am a young pastor.  I feel a lot of pressure to act more like an older pastor.

Then I read 1 kings 12.

You have Solomon, this incredible King (with faults) who dies.  His son, Rehoboam takes over.  The people want Rehoboam to lighten their load to be less authoritative. They want to feel more appreciated, they wanted the younger leader to be different.

Rehoboam then asks advice from His father's elders who tell him that he should be less authoritative and serve them.

Then, he asks for advice from his inexperienced friends (who have read books, been to conferences, and follow blogs, but don't really know what they are talking about) for advice.  They say, man you are the King, you need to show them who is in charge.

He follows his friends advice, things don't go well.

Lesson:  I am not 40,50, 60..... I am 26.  I have not been a lead pastor for 10,20,30 years....I've been one for 1.5 years.  I'm not Solomon, I'm Rehoboam.  

I don't need to act like I am a king that expects everyone to follow my direction at the drop of a hat.  I need to realize that people are going to respond best to me as they see me lead by example, serve the people, and personally invest in the vision that God has given me.  

Leadership flows out of Authority and Affinity.  When you are younger, you have less authority, so love on the people more.  God calls the young, but it's more difficult.  But He wants to help us grow, so follow His advice on leading while being young....

or don't.... you know what you are doing; you have read books, blogs, and been to conferences. 

i am what i am

A lot of times I do not feel like I deserve to be where I am in life.

because of my......past

because of my......age

because of my......mistakes

because of my......failures

because of my......weaknesses

because of my.....inexperience

because of my.....sin

because of my.....doubts

because of my.....insecurities

Paul talks about not deserving to be an apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:10 and has spoken to me in a very personal way

"by the grace of God, I am what I am and His grace will not be void, because I worked harder than all of them; not I but the grace of God with me."

you may not deserve to be where you are - influentially, financially, relationally, etc.... but by God's grace you are what you are.

i am thankful to leaders who have gone before me

In "next generation leaders" Andy Stanley talks about how uncertainty increases with increased leadership responsibility.   The more things that you jump into as a leader the more things are uncertain.  With a lot of areas of leadership there is a great deal of intangibility, which means leaders have to make their best guess at deciding what is right for the situation.  

I am very thankful for the many Pastors and leaders who are ahead of me in their journey.  Leaders who have faced a lot of the same intangible decisions that I am facing or will have to face.  I am thankful for their courage to lead in the midst of uncertainty and for their willingness to be transparent about struggles they have faced and mistakes they have made.

I have benefited greatly from these men and women who have given me a lot of information to help me make the best guess at deciding what is right for situations.  

With twitter, blogs, websites, books, etc. there are some many opportunities to be able to learn from these courageous leaders.  

If you are young and in leadership, it is a mistake to think that you know best, that you are the LONE RENEGADE who is facing challenges and doing the right thing!  Everyone has their flaws, but everyone also has amazing strengths and experiences that we can benefit from!  Let's start letting them know how much we appreciate them!

Thank you leaders who have gone before me for making my life easier!