A child shall lead them...
We were sitting around our dinner table after a meal. It was December—that time of year when everything starts getting dark around 4 pm where we live. It's not my favorite time of the year.
My 12-year-old daughter said, "I need to read a chapter from the Bible today."
I said, "All good." And as she walked away from the kitchen toward our living room, she said to me and my wife,
"Will you join me tonight?"
How could we resist?
I said, "Sure, we'd love to join you." And we did.
The next day, I thought about how our daughter initiated reading the Bible together with a simple but compelling question: "Will you join me tonight?"
The more I thought about how all this happened, I began to see what a beautiful moment it was for all of us.
Think with me here for a moment.
What if real spiritual leadership is initiating? In this case, my 12-year-old daughter initiated reading the Bible together with her mom and dad.
Could it be this simple?
Whoever initiates is the real leader.
Lots of people have leadership roles and titles. Many have attended leadership conferences and can talk a good leadership game—complete with the latest leadership lingo. However, they may not be real leaders. Why? Real leadership is initiating—and whoever initiates in any given situation is the real leader. In this case, my wife and I were led beautifully by a 12-year-old girl who asked a simple but very inviting question.
Did you get that? She led with a question. Not a statement.
Breaking news:
The person who talks the most or loudest isn't necessarily the leader.
Why? Because leadership isn't essentially about...
* talking
* big ideas
* making statements
* casting vision
* organizing teams
* leadership language
* or the next cool leadership thing.
Whoever initiates IS the leader.
There. I said it again.
Perhaps great leadership happens in small but powerful moments—spontaneously by the Holy Spirit—from just about anyone who dares to initiate.
The next time you see someone initiate with others in a positive way, I encourage you to let that person know what you saw—and how beautiful it was.
Why?
Here's why: What gets celebrated gets replicated.
And we could sure use some more real spiritual leadership.
Can you finish this sentence: Whoever initiates....
I dare you to think a little deeper about leadership...
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