No broken people allowed

1 Samuel 22:2 stood out in my readings yesterday (need a reading plan? check this): “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.” (ESV) It’s in the context of David fleeing from Saul as he tries to kill David. I love it. All the bothered, bankrupt and bitter join David’s team. This isn’t a crack team, far from it. It’s a bunch of broken people.

I love the fact that this motley crew of fellas are ultimately formed into a pretty lean mean fighting machine under David’s leadership. I don’t want to overly allegorize, but perhaps there’s a lesson here for Christian leadership. Sometimes in Christian ministry we set the bar so high for participation on a ministry team that we only allow those who’ve got it all sorted out to be part of the action. That’s dumb.

Don’t write off the bothered. Don’t write off the bankrupt. Don’t write off the bitter.

David pulled together a killer team because “the LORD was with him”. But David is only a shadow of the reality to come in Christ. On Jesus’ team, it’s only broken people allowed. He didn’t come for the healthy, but for the sick. He’s a pretty good captain!

Next time someone doesn’t measure up to your list of requirements, perhaps you could think again.

Youth Ministry Vision Talk

Casting vision is an important aspect of leading a youth ministry. The following are 6 tips I sent to a friend who asked for some advice in writing a vision talk for his youth group kick-off talk. (I’m guessing they are applicable in any ministry).

youth ministry vision

  1. Keep it big. Help people see the size of the vision.
  2. Keep it small. Help people see how they can be part of it in their own way.
  3. Don’t tackle too much. You might refer to each purpose, but you wouldn’t want to explain each in length.
  4. Remember your audience. Have something younger have something older. eg “if you’re in yr 7 it might look like this”, “if you’re in yr 12…”
  5. Remind people of the gospel. The cross of Jesus ought to drive all of our preaching and ministry.
  6. Get people pumped!

1 warm fuzzy to the first person to name the location of the Thai Restaurant in the above picture…

C.J. Mahaney Podcast

Sovereign Grace have just begun a new podcast: Leadership Interview Series. It’s particularly aimed at Pastors in thinking through Christian leadership, but is beneficial for all listeners. Josh Harris is the host along with Jeff Purswell and C.J. Mahaney (he’s now blogging).

sov grace podcast

I’ve only listened to the first few minutes, but the show notes have links to some great books and resources. I look forward to learning from CJ’s cross-centred wisdom.

Click here to subscribe in iTunes.