Jesus came to transform the world. How did it happen that as His followers, when faced with adversity, we drift away from transformational influence and simply aim to survive? To take care of ourselves?
Bottom line: When congregations face change, they need leaders who have the character and capacity to face resistance.
In most congregations the very thing that we want and need, we line up to oppose and sabotage.
As a leader, you must be willing to face downright rejection sometimes.
What about your church? Is it a transforming influence in your community? Or inwardly focused on caring for those within?
When most folks get anxious, when they fear they’re going to lose something they love and value, they reach for status quo. They reach backwards to something warm and familiar from their past.
Let’s be honest! Even the so called “best of us” bristle to have our own values, or lifelong habits, challenged. We view as dangerous anyone who dares to challenge.
You’re Not Alone
So, if you’re in the PLI family, you have a whole host of folks that are trying to lead with courage and resilience for the sake of the mission. They know your pain. They feel your frustration. Just like you, they lead in places where the prevailing wind is to look backwards, to simply settle, to seek to care for themselves. But these leaders refuse to allow those winds to prevail. They step forward. They lead.
Most churches? They don’t know how to connect with their communities. They don’t know how to make a difference post-COVID. They feel too weary to crank up another program that fails to produce.
There’s been an interesting discovery around the PLI family! If you boost a few folks to learn the simple practices to start community and lead community, it will energize an ailing bunch.
My vote? Recruit a couple of folks—maybe to join you—and look at Genesis Leader from our companion ministry Multipli. Sign up for the 9-month, fully online experience… and see if you don’t become a fearless, world-changing follower of Jesus who’s making a difference?
OR, if you’re in your 20’s and 30’s? Do the same! Give our 10-month, fully online 1,000 Young Leaders a try!
So, thanks for leading with resilience, for not settling for the prevailing winds. And, for leading a band of adventurous pioneering types into Genesis Leader or 1,000 Young Leaders!
