Several years ago, I attended a leadership class in which the
pastor outline the definition of FAT Leaders. Faithful, Available, Teachable.
Whether you want to be a leader or not the truth is we are
all leaders in some sense because people around us watch and look to us as
examples of Christ. You may not be called to a specific ministry named in the
church bulletin but we are all called to show Christ to the world. In Matthew
28 Jesus tells all of us to go into all the world and make disciples. Galatians
5 outlines the Fruit of the Spirit that should be effident, growing, plump and ready
for harvest. So let’s get FAT!!
“Fat leaders make the best leaders”, the Pastor said. Here’s why:
FAT LEADERS ARE FAITHFUL
to God and their fellow group members.
John 15:7-8 “If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.”
To be faithful
is to do what you say you will do. If you sign up to help deliver food to the
elderly, show up, be on time, and have a happy attitude. Commitment to remain on
course, no matter the distractions or excuses is key.
FAT LEADERS
ARE AVAILABLE
having and being willing to spend the time to
serve.
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human
masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance
from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Our lives are
full of busyness whether it be jobs, family, friends, the gym, church, home
group, house chores etc. To do more can
tax our time and leave us spinning. When
we decide to help out somewhere in our church or community we need to be sure
we have calculated the time it will take and that we have made the adjustments
in our schedule. If not, we will get
drained of energy and motivation as well as not meet our commitment. Some items in our lives might need to take a
back seat to this new thing, even if it’s just for a season. If God has put serving on your heart then He
will make room in your schedule and provide solutions for the adjustments
needed. You have to be willing to do the
same. The adjustments go further than our calendar and can include our
finances, our home life, or our emotional lives.
FAT LEADERS ARE TEACHABLE
open to instruction and willing to learn.
Philippians 1:9-10 “And this is my prayer:
that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so
that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for
the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through
Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
Habits are hard
to break. New ones are harder to
form. To be teachable we need to
flexible to accept the idea of new ways of thinking, doing, speaking, etc. Then, we have to be diligent to practice
those new ways so they become a part of our lives. This is not a natural
process for us humans. We like the same
and the known. To do this we are going to need some help. Help in the form of encouragement from others
and, most of all, help from the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
So, all of you FAT cats…..
Be joyful in your new diet meant to nourish your leadership and your life.
Look for fat all around you and eat it
up! In this case, fat is good for you….. I can guarantee, others will notice your added
fat in just a matter of days or weeks.
Encourage your friends to be fat too.
Jesus needs fat people to carry His fat to all the world.
“ In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:12-14
Lord,
thank you for providing the nourishment I need as a follower of Christ and a
leader to those around me. Please help
me see where I need more fat in my life. I want to be faithful, available, and
teachable. Forgive me for pushing away the fat when you have brought it to me previously
and help me see the fat you are bring to others so I can encouragement them to
be fat as well. I love you and I want to
be just like you, fat Jesus.
Click here to see a music video – Jeremy
Camp “Christ in
Me” https://youtu.be/b-1Wtrnt-rc
No comments:
Post a Comment