It is not often that I get ideas that combine two of my favorite things to talk about, but I think I hit the jackpot today! As March Madness winds down and football approaches draft time, I get excited because the sports world is abuzz with all sorts young guys who are finishing their college careers and have aspirations of going pro. This is one of the two most important times for General Managers (GM) in sports.
Being a long suffering Clevelander I am, I get especially excited as we mutter phrases such as “wait for next year” and “this coaching staff will be different.” More often than not, the regimes are very much the same.
When I look back at the past few years of the Cleveland Browns, I find that they always hire bad GMs. One major role of the GM is to find the right players to fit the system of the coach, who they trust will be successful in said system. The past few people with the Browns did not do that, which is why they are not very successful. One of them had a tendency and get talented players irregardless of the system that they are familiar with, which did not work since they were not good in the Cleveland system. The other one brought in an excessive number of guys that he was familiar with, even though they were mediocre. In the process, he retarded the growth or got rid of guys who could have helped the team, but he did not know them. So you now understand why the Browns are not so good.
I find that the church is similar. If we as leaders do not make a concerted effort to bring up people under us who could be successful in a system that they are good at, then we will be hurting the efforts of the church.
In my Spiritual Formation class, we have been learning about living in your strengths rather than your weakness. One illustration that I really liked from class last week was the idea of writing with your weaker hand. If I spent my life writing with my left hand all the time, yes, you would know what I am writing, but it is not as natural as my right hand. Living in your strength is much the same.
This is why I have always been committed to helping someone figure out who they are. Unfortunately, there are a lot of pastors out there who should not be pastors. Even in the church, there are people who want to be doing something but it is not their strength. When I become a pastor, my hope is that I will be able to see what individuals are capable of and be able to provide them with the leadership they need to become the best at what they are good at.
When I think of this, I think about how Jesus’ ministry worked. The twelve disciples that he picked were not the elite religious leaders of the day, but they had their purposes with in the group. They did not need to be elite for that time, because God was bringing “fools” to humble the “wise”. They also had Jesus to immitate, so that was extremely helpful. They also used his teachings and the Old Testament to keep them on track.
This is why I want to encourage leaders to be careful about who you bring in to ministry. The collateral damage can be severe, I know because I have been on the receiving end of misplaced leaders. Meanwhile, if you are reading this today and have no intention of being a leader in the church, do two things for me. Take the time to understand your unique abilities, and make sure that whoever is over you knows what they are doing so that you may grow properly.
Just like my team that starts out with great hope but always falls short, churches that are not have wise leadership will not get very far. Lets be concerted about helping those around us reach their full potential at what they are good at.
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