Leadership hope is being tested these days.
Leaders and congregations can overcome all manner of obstacles and take on the greatest of challenges when hope burns bright.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
But hope is being tested!
- Covid-19 persists. Longer! New hot spots!
- Racism and social injustice is more stubborn than some of us remembered. Unrest!
- Congregational life… Disrupted! “Back to normal” is more elusive than ever.
“I feel like we’re all under attack. It doesn’t let up.”
Pastor
All of that in a season under the blessing of God where opportunity abounds to accelerate a movement of the Gospel. To disciple people to actually share in leading out the mission. To engage people whose lives have been deeply disturbed with words of grace and hope.
When I scan back over years of congregational leadership, here are the seven hope killers that most challenged me:
- When I felt like I carried the burden alone
- When I drifted from time with God in the Word and prayer
- When people leveraged their wishes and personal preferences while failing to consider the greater congregational good or even the mission that had been entrusted to us
- Finances
- When problems beyond our control loomed large outside the congregation
- When I compared our congregation to other congregations, or even worse when the idols of my personal success or need for approval dominated my line of sight
- Betrayal
How about you? Put a name on what’s most challenging your hope today. Don’t discount the Enemy…and his work in the shadows of today’s realities.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:11-12
