I was recently reading an older leadership book written by Bill Hybels entitled “Courageous Leadership.” This is a must-read for any leader out there. It is a plethora of information on leadership from styles to functionality. It has made a tremendous impact on my life and on my ministry. It has kick started a whole host of thoughts on leadership and direction and brought me to a 5 year goal for our church.
One point that I stumbled on ¾ of the way through was a simple thought and paragraph on Core Leadership Beliefs. I am going to steal Hybels’ words and thoughts to best set up my own thoughts and convictions that came forward.
On Page 168 under the heading of What are Your Bedrock Beliefs? Hybels says this:
“Do you know the core convictions that inform your decision making? When I was trying to get at the root of my core beliefs, I thought I had them right on the tip of my tongue. But I didn’t. I had to put my feet up on my desk and journal and pray for several hours before I could unpack the deep convictions that inform my decision making.”
He went on to list his three core beliefs and then challenges the reader to do the same. Bill goes on to say further down the page, “Remember the leader in Luke 18? In this parable Jesus describes an unjust judge who is harassing a woman. We’re told in verse 2 that this leader had ‘no fear of God and no respecter of people.’ In other words, he didn’t worry about honouring God in his daily life. He simply said, ‘I’ll make whatever decisions favour me. How God feels about it is of no concern to me whatsoever.’ Beyond that he also had no respect for people. ‘So what if people matter to God. They don’t matter to me.’”
Hybels then talks about how a faulty belief system leads to corruption. What we believe in our core will influence what we do and the decisions we make as leaders and individuals. So it is important for us to understand what is at our core of beliefs to make sure that they are Godly and that they are positive forces.
I took the 3 Core Value challenge and found these to be the lenses to which I make my decisions based on, as a leader and as a person in my own life. They are:
1: God’s written word has principles and structure that will bring solution to anything that any human could find themselves facing.
2: The Church structure must have room to morph into what it needs to become to minister the doctrines and truth of God to the culture it finds itself in.
3: God has established a unique fingerprint of His purpose in everybody and for every church. It is our duty to find what He created us to do.
As I write these three statements there is a fire that burns in me, a feeling of holy fortitude. When I am faced with decisions, these are the lenses that I view my direction through. Discovering this has made an incredible impact on my life. First of all, I now openly approach my decisions with questions that drive me through these core beliefs. Secondly, I have a greater confidence in myself when I choose my direction as I feel secure in these three beliefs.
In the next couple of posts I am going to unpack each of these and explain them more clearly and why I believe I can rest in these principles to help me shape my decisions. Until then, Get as much of God as you can hold on to and then don’t let go.
Pastor J
