Serving Bread

So much of what is written about leadership development has been about gaining certain values, doing certain strategies and believing certain assumptions. You can’t really practice leadership unless there are some outward manifestations of our leadership. Our presence in the life of people matters.

But leadership doesn’t just happen in our presence but also in our absence. That’s what a mentor once told me. He challenged me to consider whether ministry happens in my absence. Do I believe God to be  responsible for the growth of people and the ministry or do I think it’s about me? Do I believe that people grow because of me or because of God’s power in their lives?

I tend to put too much stock in my abilities and gifts. Not that those things are not important. It is important to develop both of our skills and our gifts. But it’s not just about all that I bring to the table—especially in ministry and Christian leadership. Ministry happens both in our presence and our absence.

It’s easy to develop the ministry of presence. It can be difficult to develop the ministry of our absence. Part of that requires forethought and planning. It requires wise delegation, empowerement and accountability. And most important, it requires trust in God who is far more concerned for the people on my heart than I am.

Today I enter a season where I will be practicing ministry in absence. I begin a six-month Sabbatical which effectively takes me off campus until the Spring Semester. A lot will happen this fall that I will have no control over and may know nothing about. I expect to be surprised in January—pleasantly surprised at the leadership of the young leaders and my staff colleague. And if some things disappoint me along the way, I will have to take it to Jesus and let him speak his words of peace and comfort to me.

I am fully confident that God is at work in people’s lives in incredible ways. And in January, I hope to be reminded that God is able to do much more than I can and that in my absence, people take incredible risks and steps of growth in their leadership.

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