Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Earlier this month, my pastor released a short book: “Eagles in Chicken Coops” [CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE]. It’s about Spiritual Identity Theft and was based on the sermon series (completed Summer 2006) promoted in the attached video.

I read the book and I recommend it, but I’m a little biased.

I’ve known Jay for about 15 years and learned most of what I know about leadership from Jay. Of course, I’m not an expert on leadership…those who’ve have followed me have only done so out of curiosity. That aside, I’d like to share 5 leadership lessons I’ve learned from my time with my pastor: Jay Stewart.

5. Even those in charge are accountable

Jay has always had a boss, and now - as the lead pastor of a church - he has about a dozen: a Board of Directors.

If Jay wanted to wield authority, he’d do one of two things: he’d either be a dictator owning the church property and answer to nobody, or he would let us deacons (who number around 50) vote on every little thing and play one faction against each other. Instead, he and the pastoral staff at the Refuge answer to a Board of Directors of well-respected ministers and Christian business people from around the country.

Leaders have to be accountable and seek wiser counsel in all areas of their charge. With more authority comes more responsibility and less license to do what you want to. I think that many in leadership positions (both elected and unelected) avoid accountability and avoid challenges to the idea that they are entitled to do whatever they want.

The truth is the more authority you’re given - the fewer rights you have: you’re responsible to more people and for greater things.

4. You can’t cover-up and expect people’s trust

A little more than a year ago, there was a serious issue involving people close to Jay. I’m not going to plaster details of it all over the Internet. It was an issue that normally tears churches apart, is usually handled quietly behind closed doors, and often disposed of in ways that are contrary to what gets preached from the pulpit on Sunday.

Jay and his family dealt with it out in the open. Everyone who was directly involved just owned up to what had happened and did the honorable thing. The leadership of the church was united and everything worked out. It was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen in any church anywhere.

What I learned was that if you’re going to lead it’s important to not to run for cover at the first site of trouble; but to deal with it directly. Leadership of that level is terribly rare - but it’s desperately needed.

3. Challenge the status quo

When we helped start The Refuge the most oft-asked question wasn’t “What’s everyone else doing?”; but “What’s everyone else not doing?” Answering the second question is harder than asking the first; but it has a resulted in a unique ministry that has reached out to people that would have otherwise gone untouched.

The church has reached out to communities and people who are normally ignored and sometimes despised. For instance, during Thanksgiving, it wasn’t enough to offer a dinner at our church - we delivered it to the door-to-door in the neighborhoods that surrounded the church. That’s true, we gave hundreds of individual dinners to the families, invited them to church, and prayed with many of them for their real needs. It wasn’t just limited to Thanksgiving. We had similar outreaches on Easter, Christmas, and right before school started for the 3 1/2 years that the Refuge has been in operation.

The point is that leaders need to do more than just try to make something bigger, better, or faster than the next guy; but we need leaders who’ll take their team in directions they’d never imagined.

2. Don’t tolerate the phrase “someone oughta”

This is my personal favorite; because anyone can take this into the meetings that they have to suffer come Monday. The next time someone comes up with a “great idea” and prefaces it with “You know, someone oughta execute [great idea here]“, treat them like they are volunteering for it. I’ve seen Jay pull this trick on more than one occasion and I’ve always gotten a kick out of it.

Most people today are think that a “great idea” is enough; but executing it is more important. In the various organizations I belong to there are those people who feel like they deserve a seat at the table because of what they can dream up and its their job to tell what everyone else should be delivering. If you don’t keep this in check, it’s easy for 90% of the work to be done by 10% of the people.

Leadership is not about dreaming up - it’s about delivering.

1. Expect excellence

From the outside, The Refuge looks more like some misbegotten tabernacle with a 90-year-old pastor delivering one of 10 of his favorite sermons and singing the most tired hymns to an old electric organ to a congregation of 20. But from this location on Central Drive operates a church that among Sunday and Saturday services and Monday and Wednesday Youth services ministers to upwards of 1,000 people in the community weekly. How does this happen? Well, I gave four reasons earlier, but here’s a fifth - there are incredibly talented artists, technicians, and ministers who’ve cultivated their gifts where Nikita’s Gym used to be. They have been attracted to this ministry because their talents are more than appreciated; but utilized, challenged, and developed by the leadership in the church.

Give talented people an opportunity to be challenged and exhibit their God-given talents for a righteous cause and they’ll quickly forget that their office is a broom closet.

See y’all Monday.