Time to Lead

About 6 months ago, I started thinking about taking some time this summer to really unplug from the day to day routine of pastoring--leading a staff, managing details, preparing to preach, etc. The idea wasn't to take a full-blown sabbatical, but it definitely would be more than a couple weeks away.

It has been the single best decision I've ever made in the 10 years of the life of Lake Hills Church. This time gave me a whole new lease on life--not that I wasn't crazy about life beforehand. I love my life--God, Julie, our kids, what I get to do as a "job", the whole thing is more than I ever dreamed it could be.

But, it was in this time that we got some incredible time together as a family. We put the finishing touches on a book that's been in progress for over a year. We got to travel to upstate New York on the spur of the moment (The Power of Joy), and God blew some incredible encouragement into my life through a bunch of Yankees. And, in this time, God built into me some monster principles that I needed to adopt in leading what is an incredible staff of people at LHC.

Time to lead has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Wherever you lead, you have to take time away. First, that's really the only way to measure how you're doing as a leader. If I have to be there 24/7 for things to fly, I'm not leading. That's micro-managing and it's a leadership cop-out. How well you lead only really reveals itself when you're gone.

Second, you have to take time to recharge. I know all the excuses--I wrote that book: Well, people will think I'm that lazy pastor who just hangs out and plays golf...What about the preaching?...Our church just isn't at a place where I can do that...What will our people think?...I don't really NEED that much time...

What? You're better than Jesus? More critical to your team's success? Jesus took all kinds of time off and he only had a three-year career. Jesus lived his life for an audience of One--the Father. He let the haters hate, because they're going to do that no matter what leaders do.

Also, the cumulative effect of pastoring, especially week-in and week-out message preparation, takes a larger toll than you realize. I learned some interesting things about that dynamic that I'll post tomorrow.