The 3 Indisputable laws are:
1. EVERY campus is different.
2. EVERY leader has different strengths, gifts, and abilities.
3. EVERY ministry has different resources.
EVERY leader has different strengths, gifts, and abilities. Just as we can not develop the "perfect college ministry model" and drop it onto every campus because each campus is different, so is each leader different. God has wired us all differently and uniquely.
Some years ago I read Andy Stanley's book, "7 Habits of Effective Leaders". My huge take away from that book was the necessity of knowing and maximizing our strength....the particular ability/gift that God has placed in our life. I had always believed it subconsciously, but had never really given it priority in my thinking.
This is not about being self-centered or building the ministry solely around your personality. When that is done, the ministry collapses the day that leader is gone. Where I disagreed with Stanley was he said so there were things he did not do and left to other staffers. Most of us cannot do that....we ARE the staff. But,often we short change our strength because it is our strength. We can get by with less effort in that area and we can put more energy into one of our weaker areas.
HOWEVER, that shortchanges the ministry. The best of our best has not been applied. But, this takes some honesty with ourselves. What really is our strength....or....what really is our gift from the Lord? Often out of modesty or a desire not to be boastful, many of us do not clearly name and put forward our strength/gift.
YOU ARE THE BEST TOOL YOUR MINISTRY HAS!
Some Questions to Ask Yourself:
1. Name your gift....what is it that you do best?
-Perhaps you need to get some feedback from two or three people you trust whom you know love you. What do they say your strength is? Or, do they agree with what you are saying it is? This usually needs to be someone other than your spouse or your moth.
2. Are you giving the proper time and priority to utilizing that gift in the ministry?
-If you are an organizer/leader, are you putting that at the forefront of what you do? It concerns me that today a model has developed that seems to make the College Minister a speaker/communicator first. Not all of us are wired that way. Often, we are simply imitating whoever we thing is best at speaking/communicating AND it is taking much of our time and energy to prep because we are not wired that way. OR, the ministry is suffering because we are putting out a product that is not the best. Not everybody is a dynamic speaker.
3. What is your weaker area?
Once you name it, then you can begin to take steps in dealing with it. Work at empowering students, other staff or volunteers in your area of weakness. If you are not a musician, find those that are and turn them loose to do it well. Good leaders are not threatened by those that do some things better than they do. Being a good leader means build a team....NOT being the WHOLE team!
Be YOU where God called you to be. Keep growing in every area, but make sure your are growing and utilizing the thing God is most likely to work through. He made you the way you are for a reason.
Arliss Dickerson is a part time consultant for the Lifeway Collegiate Ministries office and the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook and print at amazon.com (type in Arliss Dickerson).
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