Our Covenant

Over the past couple of weeks, our Forge class has had the opportunity to put together a covenant, complete with mission statement, and guidelines that will help us make the most of our time together, over the next 6 months.  Through that process, I learned so much about people and interacting with individuals, that will prove of immeasurable worth for the rest of my life.  Every single person is an individual, complete with their own thoughts, theories, opinions, and experiences, derived from their past, their culture, and their theology.  Thinking anything less than that would cause me to judge the other person and set myself up in an authoritative position over them.  Working with people means that I not only get along with people, but that I understand them, where they are coming from and consider them more important than myself.  For this project of making a covenant, we had to be unanimous on every topic, which is easier said than actually done.  The first part of the project was to come up with a mission statement.  We came to the conclusion that it would be Romans 12:10, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honor one another above ourself."  I don't know if we realize what we signed up for, but I know that God is going to work in huge ways through this covenant.  We then went on to define our relationship to media, tv, relationships, housekeeping, amongst other things.  Once we ratified the covenant two weeks ago, our relationship to one another became so much more important and on our mind, because we began following the guidelines we set forth, not out of a "duty" to preform, but out of wanting to be devoted, loving, and honoring to our brothers and sisters here.  It is a good exercise to remind each of us that we are in a "new" covenant with Christ, one ratified by the shedding of Christ's blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Through this project and through being with each other daily, we are learning what it means to be in a Christian Community with each other, something I am learning to love more and more every day!!!

Life and History

This past week, we learned in class that our history plays a pivotal role in who we become as leaders, and to be an effective leader, we need to understand our history, not be controlled by it.  One of our assignments was to write out our personal history, namely the major circumstances in our life that caused a shift in view, framework, personality, etc.  So, this past Saturday, I spent all day writing a 20-page narration of my personal history.  In doing so, I learned a lot about myself and certain life rules that I live by.  Now that I understand these things, I can begin to work on those things that need work and have reasons for why I do what I do.  It has probably been one of the most eye opening assignments that I have ever done to date.  I do not know how any leader can lead a group of people without taking a personal inventory of their past, asking God for forgiveness where needed and moving on.  I can see that it will be crucial in my understanding of myself, my leading of others, and my relationship with God!

First Trip breakdown

Two weeks ago, our Forge class took our first trip which was amazing.  We left early Monday morning and drove for a long time.  During the car ride, all the Forgies shared our testimonies and had the opportunity to hear everyone else’s.  When I was giving mine, Matt, the director of the program, questioned me about one of the parts.  I stated that “God broke me” and he proceeded to question me about what that meant.  I had no idea, so over the course of the next twelve hours, I tried to flesh out if God breaks us, what that looks like and what that actually means.  After not being able to figure it out on my own, I prayed that God would give me discernment and understanding.  He began to reveal to me the gospel message.  I learned that first off, God doesn’t break us.  It is the sin in our lives that breaks us and separates us from the love/perfection of God.  Then, when we turn our lives over to Christ, he makes us a “new creation, behold the old has gone; the new has come.”  He picks up our broken pieces and puts us back together.  When we sin, the Holy Spirit inside us convicts us of the sin that is in our lives, which is why we feel pain when we sin.  However, one can also have a broken heart over the lost or over emotional pain.  As the Hillsong song states, “break my heart for what breaks yours.”  That is a different type of brokenness though.  Once I realized that, my whole view of myself and my life and the gospel of Jesus Christ changed.  I finally began to understand what Christ did on the cross for me.  The rest of the week, I heard the gospel preached by a lot of different people, each from their own story.  It is the common thread that weaves together all Christians from all walks of life!  That is the basis for Christian community and loving others!!  We should never allow the gospel to depart from our tongue, for it is in that time that we lose perspective of who we are and whose we are!!!

Followership

So, why when I am at a Leadership training program am I talking about followership?  Is that not the exact opposite of what I am trying to accomplish in my time here in The Forge?  The first time this concept was brought up in class, I thought I knew what leadership was.  However, I had this confused with managing individuals.  Management is an impersonal concept that is focused on placing people where they best fit to achieve the necessary goals.  In contrast, leadership is more focused on the person and helping them achieve all they can, even if it means exceeding our own desires.  With that being said, leadership is followership.  In order to be a good leader, one has to understand how to follow those whom they are leading.  It's a counter-intuitive idea.  However, how will a person lead another individual if they know nothing about them; their strengths, weaknesses, expectations, short-comings, etc?  Knowing the people that are following you is one of the most crucial points in being a good leader.  Yet, this information is not so that you can use them to further yourself or for ones own gain.  It is about helping them succeed in life, school, work, etc.

Partnering with that idea is the idea of servant-leadership.  Christ came into the world to serve, not to be served and if I am following His example, that is what I should be doing.  Serving others is not selfish; it is selfless. 

Combining both of these ideas together is crucial in order to be a "good" leader