Leading to Change Lives

Every good teacher, leader, coach, and instructor has, as a fundamental goal for their lives, to implement change.  Our objective is to create a change in thought, a change in habit or a change in lifestyle.  In essence, leaders are change agents.  My high school track coach, Mr. Henegar, drew the best out of me because he was not ok with me staying at my current athletic level.  My Algebra teacher, Mrs. Peterson, helped me to get the only academic A I earned in High School.  I didn’t get the A because the course was easy.  I got an A because she was able to change my current mediocre thinking and caused me to strive to learn. In order for improvement, there must be change.  For life transformation, there must be change.

I think you get the idea.  Your Job as a Life Group leader (or insert any area you lead here) is to facilitate change; you are a change agent.  (Can you hear the old song, “Secret Agent Man?”)   In this month’s Blog we will discuss some practical principles that will help keep us sharp and ready to be the change agent God has empowered us to be. 

 

1. If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow.  The moment we stop seeking growth, the moment we stop challenging ourselves as leaders, will be the moment our capacity to lead will begin to decline. There is no “I have made it level.”  If we are going to successfully lead change in the future, we must maintain a lifestyle of study, prayer, and seeking greater understanding today. 

2. You cannot communicate out of a vacuum; you cannot impart what you do not possess.  Too often we are guilty of finding the quickest way to prepare for a lesson.  We all have time restraints and it is tempting to lead out of personality instead out of prayerful study.  If you are a small group leader, be careful to spend ample time in preparation.

3.  Do not reward under achievers.  While I am passionate about giving praise when someone tries something new, I am never ok with an under achiever.  An under achiever gets by with what is necessary.  They ask, “What is the least I can do to fulfill my obligation?”  When running track in high school, Coach Henegar praised me when I accomplished a new personal best time.  But, if four weeks later I was still at that “personal best,” in no uncertain terms he let me know I could (and I should) do better. Let me encourage you to fight the temptation to “just get by.”  Lives are at stake.  People are at stake. Eternity is at stake. 

 

Next month, we will continue the topic on how to facilitate change.  The Kingdom of God thanks you for all the work you put in to be a change agent.