It's Not Mine

My staff.

My ministry.

Our team.

Our people.

These are some of the phrases that scare me the most as a ministry leader.

I went through an emotionally unhealthy season (one of many) a few years back where I began to take credit for some of the great things that were happening at Cross Point.  Without even realizing it I began to use this language.  I had drifted to a place where I felt like I was responsible in some way for all that God was doing.

A friend graciously but firmly challenged me on this mentality.  He was absolutely right.  It was a wake-up call that sparked an important growth season for me.

Ministry leadership requires managing a very challenging tension where you pour your heart and soul into your work but you hold it with open hands willing to let it all go.  It’s the grey leadership issue of stewardship vs. control.  Where you diligently steward what God has entrusted to you but you don’t begin to take credit for it all.

One of the ways that I can keep a pulse on this in my life is with my language.  If I begin to refer to ministry accomplishments as mine or ours… if my language conveys control, I’m taking too much credit for what God is doing through me.

Do you ever wrestle with this tension?  How do you combat it?