Being a leader others want to follow - Part 1

Boy is this something I'm definitely learning and working on. Before being at People's Church, I had always taken worship seriously, but now, I realize that there's so much more to it than just worshiping. I want the Lord to make me an extravagant worshiper, without a doubt. But even more than that, I desire for Him to make me a great worship "leader". Someone who others can look at and follow my example, not only in worship, but also in my everyday lifestyle. I want others to look at me and say, "Lord, show me how to worship You with the same passion and love that she worships you with. Help me to love my family and others that way. Help me to truly love and care about the interests of others like Jamie does." As of right now - I can confidently say, I have NOT arrived to this point. In fact, I can already see many areas where I need to grow, especially when it comes to investing in others and leading by example, but there's no reason why I can't get there someday, and it's one of my goals. I want to be able to look at my life and know I'm doing everything I can to lead others well. The reality of it is, for me and for anyone who is on stage worshiping for that matter, you're position has already been chosen for you. You're a leader whether you like it or not. People will be looking to you to set an example. The kind of example you set, well that choice is up to you and me.

I know this can sound like a broad area - being a leader. So I would like to share with you, over the next few blogs, just a few things that were shared with me that I'm working on right now. Here's the first area:

1. People knowing that you truly care. - If I'm not careful, I could definitely be misunderstood in this area. I definitely DO care about people. Ask anyone, and they would tell you I'm a people person, but I'm also a perfectionist. So when it comes to practices and services, I'm always thinking about the technical things: Who's late? Who may not show? How are the transitions between songs? What songs should we sing next week? Where should the podium be?..... all of these ?'s are decent ?'s I think. There's no doubt that they're all effect the worship service too, but other than just the technical side of worship, I need to be thinking about the personal side of worship. Maybe by thinking of things like these: (all the following names are made up) "Tim wasn't here for practice, I wonder how he's doing? Mary mentioned her mom was sick, I should call and ask how she's handling it? Bill has been playing for 6 weeks straight, I should tell him how much I appreciate him. Ed mentioned money is tight, is there some way the team can help?" These ?'s are the ones that so many times I think of, but fail to actually act out. It's funny too because personally, I really need that. I need to know people care and that I'm appreciated, yet it's not something I've been great at showing others. I really hope that I grow a lot in this area, and more than that, I hope that anyone I lead, will always have the confidence that I'm more than a team leader, but that I'm a friend who truly cares about them. Whether it be by an encouraging word, a quick phone call, or even just a pat on the back to say "good job", I hope that I can communicate to our team and to anyone else that I may lead, that I care.

In my next blog, I'll share part two of "being a leader others want to follow: People knowing they can trust You."