Swinging from the Vine / 845 posts / 2,909 comments / feed / comments feed

if you feel like quitting

…as I often do…read this by Andrew Hamilton, I couldn’t have said it better if I had all the time in the world.

We have now been in the same place for nearly 4 years and are yet to see one person sign up to follow Jesus. This was not at all what I hoped for or expected when we set out to begin our missionary venture in the northern suburbs of Perth. Even though I told people it would be a long term project and we would need to be patient I (secretly) still expected amazing results and in double quick time. As a youth pastor I had seen the youth ministry I was leading grow dramatically from 30 people to 250 in less than 2 years with many of those new Christians. For some reason I concluded that a) this was normal and could be replicated b) I was the key element in catalyzing this dramatic period of growth. I figured that if I could make it happen in one setting then surely I could do it again somewhere else…

I have since come to see how arrogant and foolish that is. But in a world that praises the charismatic leader and puts the success or failure of a ministry (whatever those words may mean) down to the ability of the senior leader, it’s a fairly reasonable conclusion to reach. Everything I had read about leadership told me I was ’the man’ and that because of my gifting and charisma I could make it happen. The truth is I can’t.  read the complete article here >>

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1 Comment

  1. Andrew Hamilton — July 14, 2007 #

    Thanks Mak!

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