Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Lead or Follow

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls....."  Heb 13:17 ESV

.......But please, please don't just sit there and complain.  Leaders don't complain, they serve.  Followers don't complain but do as they are asked respectfully.  Complainers only live to serve themselves and get THEIR way.  They have no intention of leading with their words and actions and they have no intention of "standing idly by"  while someone else takes THEIR glory away.  Its all about them and not the team or direction of the team.

I am not here to brag about my leadership abilities, but I want to tell you a story about leadership from my time in Air Force.  Its was a hot day in the AZ desert.  The technicians were out slaving away on the A-10s assigned to our unit as myself and another young officer sat in the nice air conditioned office discussing a problem we were having with a certain maintenance action.  The techs were not following the proper procedures and we were having problems with something (I can't quite remember).  I was about to go outside and begin to work through the procedure with some of the techs to see where the deficiency was in either the process, or how they were performing the action.  Out of left field, I am told that I don't need to go through that to understand what it takes to do this procedure.  What?  This just did not compute with me since I had been doing engine changes, gun changes, parts swaps and the like for over a year now to try and understand the intricate life of a maintenance technician in the field.  I was one of their leaders and superior officers, but I was far from superior in my understanding of what needed to be done to make flying happen everyday.  In the end I let my temper get the best of me as this other officer and I went at it in fine verbal fashion for over a half an hour.  His side: we only need to know how it's done to lead them.  My side: get your butt out of the AC, onto the flightline, and get into their life to understand better what it really takes to lead them. 

What I'm saying is this:  Leaders are servants more than their followers, and followers are leaders by their ability to listen, understand, and follow the direction and vision of their leaders.  Too many times in the church, there are people trying to be the chief, and not enough people to be the indians.  Some want to serve with their words, yet not move their feet to action.  Some want to watch from a distance and shout orders while others do the dirty work and get into the nastiness that is our lives today.

It's not enough just talk............actions speak louder than words.........but words can be like nails down a chalkboard when there is nothing but hot air behind them. 

#5:  Lead or follow, but don't complain.

Freak

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