I Used to Think I Knew it All (a personal reflection)

I thought I knew everything there was to know about marriage…I was the expert and had philosophies and ideas that I knew would make marriage unbelievable. THEN I got married and discovered that it took more than philosophy to make marriage successful…it took work and change and adjustments and a willingness to unlearn everything I thought I knew!

I thought I knew everything there was to know about raising children…I was the expert. I was NEVER going to be THAT parent that had a kid freak out in the middle of a restaurant…I was NEVER going to say ridiculous things such as, “do you want a spanking?” THEN Jacque and I had Tori, and then a little over three years later, we had Ian. Jacque and I came to the understanding that it takes more than philosophies and book knowledge to raise our children…it takes work and change and adjustments and a willingness to unlearn everything I thought I knew.

I thought I knew a lot about leading a church…I thought I was an expert. After all, I had taken some seminary classes, had experiences working in some great churches and had read a lot of books by some people who had done quite well in regards to leading great churches. I've come to the understanding that it takes more than philosophies and some inspirational one-liners from my favorite conference speaker to really lead a church...it takes work and change and adjustments and a willingness to unlearn everything I thought I knew.

I’ve been in full-time ministry many years, and the longer I do this the more I realize that I really don’t know what I’m doing, which is awesome for me because realizing this will keep me desperate for God’s voice; after all, it IS His church.

I will NEVER have church leadership figured out! The more I am around amazing leaders, the more I realize I have so much to learn. The thing that I have learned though is that in order to be an effective church leader we MUST be willing to throw out philosophies, ideas and “book knowledge” that doesn’t fall in line with what the Scriptures and the Spirit is saying.

The beginning of Jesus bringing serious change in His church is when He begins to bring that type of serious change in the leadership of that church! If we are willing to embrace all He has for us, we will see things that absolutely blow our minds…and that’s my prayer. I don’t want to know it all, I want to know HIM who controls it all, and trust Him to lead me step by step!