My idea for a relaunch has come in the last few days as a way to talk about what I have learned over my career in ministry, and how practical examples can be useful to others going through what I have gone through. In this blog I will be talking about leadership, culture, and ministry as well as how the three mix together. I hope that many will find this helpful and it will be a blessing to each person who reads it.
With that I will define some terms. Let’s start with leadership. A leader is a person, male or female, who takes on the role of being the one says “This is where we have been, this is where we are, and this is where we should go.” A saying goes, “If you think you are a leader, turn around and see if anybody is following you.” Leadership be its very nature is practical, as it is action oriented be that action something a person does, says, feels, or all three. Going further, for someone to lead the person has to know where they are going and have the ability to adapt and help others to adapt as needed along the way.
Next we look at ministry. Ministry is the calling of Jesus Christ to love God with all we have, love ourselves as God loves us, and to love others with the same love God has for us. It is taking care of others in a variety of ways. In Gospel of Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says ministry looks like feeding the hungry, giving something to drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming and sheltering the stranger, and visiting and tending to the sick and imprisoned. Food, water, shelter, clothing, and care for the sick, the basic needs of our lives are the areas Jesus focused on. It is about using what we have to help others, and in that way ministry is a practical as well.
Last we come to culture. Culture is the undercurrent of how a person, society, government, people group, family, church, business, school, or organization operates. It is what informs what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in terms of decision making, actions, behaviors, and speech. Some have suggested that anywhere between 80-90% of what runs things is culture. That is why culture is so important to understand, because it is the culture of a person or organization that you have to focus on if you or your organization want to change and grow.
Alright, this ends our time for this week. Stayed tuned for next week as I will continue to discuss the above and start to look at some examples of leadership, ministry, and culture. Hope you have a good week.
I took this picture of a labyrinth in a courtyard of St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa in 2016.
