Leadership

Last week we were learning about leadership. I really liked this week. Ty was our teacher this week which was nice because we all already know each other so we didn't need to do introductions or anything. The first thing we talked about was something called presuppositions. Basically that is an idea upon which you base your ideas. It is how our experiences, worldview, and theology affect our thoughts or views on a certain topic or situation. It is when you take reality and put your own spin on it. We learned how these can lead to wrong ideas about the truth. We then learned how to deal with our presuppositions. Basically what you have to do is ask God to look past them and ask Him to transform our mind, renew our minds and ourselves and then show us His perspective. That was a precursor to the leadership class. This is when we learned about leadership. Ty told us that when we come back, in one way or another, we are all going to be leaders. The information I learned this week I wish I had learned a while back. Looking back it could have helped me with leading in every situation I did. But at least now I have it for the future. One really encouraging thing is that we have a perfect leader to look up to, the only perfect leader, which is God. He is the perfect leader because He is wise, just, person with the people He is leading, intelligent, visionary, delegates power, merciful, creative, patient, all powerful, and that is just a start of His nature. God's nature and His character makes Him the perfect leader. One thing God tell us to do is be Holy. Some people have a hard time with this, thinking that we cannot be Holy. However God would not give us a commandment that we cannot keep. So what is holiness? It means to be set apart, which we definitely can do. Be in the world not of the world.
           Another thing we were talking about is love. We defined love as desiring the best for everyone. We HAVE to choose the best for every no matter what. Sometimes the best thing for them is not the easiest to do, but we still have to do it, it is the most loving way. After that there were only two main points that we went over. It was two different styles of leadership. There is transactional and transformational. Transactional works more of a hierarchy. They work out of obligation and commands and if they don't follow it something may get taken away.  Transformational is when the leader is holding everything up but everyone else is just as important as the leader is.  This type of leadership works out of influence and modeling. Transformational leaders lead by example, they model what should be done and then they release the work to the people as they are ready. This leader is always aware of what happens as a whole. This type of leader is/needs to be present, open, and willing to help. Leaders should reproduce other leaders. Transactional =train train train and wait for perfection. Transformational=model then delegate then release. Releasing is an important part, it may be very hard to do but it is important. Transactional may be needed at times, but if you are leading transactionally you need to always have the intention of moving back to transformational. Transformational will build up other leaders and give them a purpose.
              I think I said that was the last thing we talked about, if I did, I lied. : p We also talked about being a servant leader. This is something I am really working on and hope to one day be able to do it fully. Servant leadership means that you are willing to do whatever it takes. Doing whatever needs to be done. This type of leader will do whatever it takes to make sure that the people they are leading are able to live out their calling. Jesus is our perfect example of a servant leader. He hung on a cross so we could live out our calling to be in relationship with God. When you are a servant leader you go a step and beyond to make sure the people can live out their calling. It takes a lot of work, a lot of commitment, and a lot of time, but it is worth it!!!
         Now this is the real last thing we talked about. We didn't have much time left but Ty wanted to give us a quick overview of this so we could think about it. We looked at the verse Romans 13:1 which talks about authority. The part we focused on was that the authorities that exist do because of God. A lot of people get confused by this because of all the people they think had authority who shouldn't have (like Hitler.) To understand this better we need to know the difference between power and authority.   Power is the ability to act or produce in effect to get what you want, it's the possession of control. Power is something that you use. Authority is given to someone, they do not take it, they receive it. We can give people/things authority without it coming from God but all true authority comes from God. The main point to remember with this is that authority is given and power is taken.
          Okay so all that is left to talk about is the weekend. This weekend was wonderful!!! I'm not sure why because we pretty much did the same things but it was wonderful. On Friday we went to El Paso and I finally got to get some stuff to big out on. We also went to Sonic and that was wonderful! Ty bought a movie there so we all watched it together (it was called The Dilemma.) It was really weird but fun to be all together. The next day we slept in, ate brunch, then watched another movie together. After that we read a lot and did thing that were productive. : p Also some of us took a nap that was nice. That night we watched two movies (I know it was movie weekend.) I'm not sure why but it was the best, most relaxing Saturday yet. On Sunday we had the option of resting or going to the church that is held in the chapel. I stayed home and watched the latest Worship Center video. That was wonderful and I loved it! The rest of the day we just hung around, did more productive things, and had a WONDERFUL Sunday, really I loved it and it was a great weekend. : D