Learning From…Teenagers? October 2, 2009

One of the things I am always trying to do as a leader is learn.  I believe when a leader stops growing…so will what he has been called to lead.

I’ve always been willing to do whatever it takes to be stretched as a leader, whether that means reading certain books, going to conferences and even getting on a plane to spend a couple of hours with certain leaders with whom I’ve been privileged enough to get some time with.

However, Lucretia and I began doing something recently that has been both eye opening and fun…

About three or four months ago I really felt the Lord impressing upon me that I really needed to spend more time investing in our teenagers here at NewSpring Church…which was weird for me because I feel that we have a pretty incredible youth ministry going on and the last thing they needed was me getting in the way.

So…I fought this urge for a while until it became so strong that I was just about to bust.

What came out of me praying through this was God leading me and Lucretia to spend this next school year pouring our lives into 12 or so students (juniors and seniors) that are currently involved in the youth ministry here at NewSpring.

I met with some of our youth staff here at the Anderson campus and asked them to prayerfully select this crew…and they put together a team of teens that have so much potential that it blows my mind.

And ‘Cretia and I are FULLY INVESTING in the lives of these young men and women.  I meet with them at least once a month for the purpose of seeing what Jesus is doing in their lives…and asnwering any questions that they have came up with in regards to Scripture, the church, leadership and life in general.

Several of them have called me and texted me over the past few months to encourage me and/or to ask me questions in regards to something they are dealing with.

Every Sunday for the past several weeks there have been at least two of them who spend the entire day with me and my team…they are literally “behind the scenes”…they see what goes into a Sunday, they hear the conversations and are able to see the things about ministry that just can’t be taught in a classroom.

BUT…what has been amazing to me is NOT how much I have been able to teach them…but rather how much Jesus is using them to teach me!!!

You see…these guys and girls ARE the next generation!  They ARE going to be leaders in the church…and the last thing I want to create here at NewSpring is the new traditional church.

So…God, in His providence, has surrounded me with teenagers who are asking REALLY awesome questions…and in doing so the Holy Spirit is teaching me what the church is going to have to look like in the next five to ten years!

It’s amazing what you can learn from just listening to the questions people are asking…

And…if we always surround ourselves with the same people (especially people our age) then we will lead out of personal preferences because everyone we have in our circle likes the way things are.

Jesus is using this group to shape me as a leader…and I am having a blast.  I thought that doing this was going to be my investment into them…when in actuality it is God’s investment into me!

If you want to see where the church is heading in the next 10-15 years…I challenge you as a leader to do this in your church.

You can either prepare for the future…or get lost in it!