Note to developing leaders: Take it off!
Then Saul dressed David in his own (armor). David fastened on Saul’s sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these because I am not used to them”, so he took them off. (1 Samuel 17:38-39)
Do you have any idea how insane David must have looked to the military leaders who were watching him? Men of war know how a battle should be fought. You need good armor, good weapons, a good plan and a few good men.
But they were looking at a cocky young kid with little experience in battle (against animals!), who couldn’t handle the equipment, and who didn’t understand their military strategy. However, this kid had full trust in who God was and what God could do through him.
“So he took them off” A few years ago I heard a well-known church planting expert talk about two of the great reformations of the past (The Word and The Spirit) and then he said, “The next great reformation is going to be a reformation of systems.” I have to respectfully disagree. Ministry may be served by systems, but the soul of ministry is organic. It is God taking a unique individual (you) and putting that person in a unique location ministering to unique people. We can learn general principles from others, but only you can take those principles and prayerfully and prophetically put them to work in your own situation. And sometimes, someone else’s system just won’t work for you no matter what you do.
I’ve talked to other younger planters and church leaders who are discouraged because “the experts” lead them down a road that just isn’t authentic. We try to walk around and lead the way it worked for someone else, but in our heart of hearts we know that there is no way we can be successful in our battle that way. Research and experience may say that if we do A, B, and C then we will get D, but what about when the Lord is stirring something new that doesn’t add up and that is going to take courage to walk in?
“So he took them off” David would quickly grow into a mighty warrior, giving up the sling and getting his own armor. We will grow and develop systems that serve our ministries well, too. But we can’t rely on good systems if we haven’t first allowed the Lord to inspire our passion and forge our character in the crucible of our own God-anointed and Spirit-dependent ministry.
When we just follow a method in ministry or do it like somebody (everybody) else, we…
- Devalue who God has made us to be, and the preparation He has already taken us through.
- Disturb the process that God wants to continue to take us through to make us mature.
- Disbelieve God’s promise to work through us—weaknesses and all.
- Destroy the very unique thing that God wants to accomplish through us in our future.
It isn’t wrong to find inspiration in a Godly and effective leader or ministry, but when I completely imitate that leader or ministry I have missed the point of what God wants to do in me.
In Luke 5:33ff Jesus talks about new and old wineskins. “No question”, He says, “the old is better, more mature, but the new is vital.” Jesus’ disciples didn’t do it like the Pharisees or John’s disciples. But—“they will fast”. They (we) will grow into their own armor. They (we) will mature.
We don’t criticize those who are mature, because we aim to get there too. But if we don’t let God do something new through us, we will be ineffective. We will be walking around in somebody else’s armor, or trying to pour our new wine in someone’s old wineskins. When we are trying to lead with someone else’s anointing, we will not be prophets who are hearing and communicating God’s Word, we will instead become parasites living off of someone else’s life passion and calling.
“So he took them off” When I look at many older, effective, well-respected, and anointed individuals in ministry I realize that they “marched to the beat of their own drum” too. I know more than a few of these people who did not do ministry the way it was “supposed” to be done at the time. They refused to wear Saul’s armor—many of them paid dearly for swimming upstream. But now we all benefit from their authenticity and courage.
Can we walk in that same authenticity and courage? Are we willing to pay the price to do that? When we humbly refuse to wear armor that is not our own and graciously insist on using the tools and vision that God has equipped us with, it’s a guarantee that people will not understand. But God never called us to design our ministry so that other leaders would give us an “attaboy”; He has called us to extend His Kingdom in ways that will be most effective if we embrace His unique mark on our lives.