Jump directly to the Content

Leader's Insight: Overeager and Dangerous

Recognizing the difference between excited servants and mature leaders.

We've all experienced it: Someone comes up to you after the Sunday morning worship service, their face flushed with excitement. They have passion and experience for such-and-such ministry, and are ready to plug in and run with things. When can I start?

You also know the response: the rush of adrenaline, the affirmation that someone believes in the vision this much, of being energized by their enthusiasm and wanting to tap into it. When can you start?

But hold on for a minute, or a day, or even several months. Can you?

As church leaders, we are often desperate to fill the gaps in ministry. We often feel discouraged by a lack of "buy-in" or enthusiasm. We see so much that can and should be done, and we feel alone in our efforts. Then we meet someone who is so eager.

We love eager. But in our haste to embrace eager, we often forget to look for mature. And we forget the Apostle Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:22: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands … "

I will confess, ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
10 Novels for Discipleship
10 Novels for Discipleship
What if we recommended fiction alongside non-fiction when discipling others?
From the Magazine
Should the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?
Should the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?
Controversy over Bibles in Jamaica, the Philippines, and Germany reveal the divide between the sacred and the relatable.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close