Who, me Lord?

Taking Ownership in Leadership and Spiritual Responsibility

When I think back to the types of decisions I made as a young father or even the ones made as I began leading others in my career, I found myself outsourcing a lot.  From the career standpoint it proved to be necessary to let go of certain areas as I often found the bottleneck in a given process would be myself.  Recognizing the need to bring in others proved to be helpful in that scenario.  On the other hand, from a home life standpoint I unfortunately made the mistake of outsourcing the role of spiritual leader of my family to those employed by the church.  I thought that I was not equipped to lead them in that area thus as any good business leader would do I outsourced it to those with that given skillset. 

Looking back now I recognize how mistaken I was in that decision making.  The reality is that I am handpicked by God to lead my family and while a church can, and arguably should, be a great assistant in that journey they should never take the leading role.  I remember how awkward the first family devotionals were and how ill equipped I felt every time we began. However, by not outsourcing this area of my life it proved to be a great training ground to not only equip them but also sharpen my sword to be the best disciple possible for Christ. 

Isaiah 6:8 reminds me that in those moments of doubt or insecurity that being willing to take steps of obedience, even when my confidence may be low, is a better action than any thought of outsourcing.  In fact, perhaps a better reframe could be “Here am I! Send me”. 

Additional Resources