Global Youth Ministry Network - Asia

A book that has greatly influenced my ministry is “The Next Generation Leader” by Andy Stanley. This book was first published 6 years ago yet the principles are very much applicable for those who work with the youth today. So I’m going through these principles as well as including some thoughts on how this can be applied to our ministry to young people. This is the 4th of five parts.

4. To be the best leader you can be you must enlist the help of others.

We can go further and faster with someone coaching us than we can on our own. And an effective coach doesn’t even need to have more skills than the person he is coaching.

The author goes on to say: Every top athlete and athletic team has a coach. In the world of athletics, nobody performs his way out of needing a coach. In the world of leadership, however, we operate under the misguided assumption that because we are leaders, we don’t need to be led.

Particularly striking is the Biblical example given in the book: Solomon’s son lost more than 80% of the tribes of his kingdom because he did not listen to those who were older and wiser than he (1 Kings 12:8). This thought has made me consider well those who have been many years ahead of me in the ministry and not dismiss their thoughts as irrelevant for the times.

Young leaders are often on-the-go kind of folk who love the rush of a busy day. But what might prevent us from hearing the wisdom of our elders is that we get so busy that we don’t give ourselves opportunity to listen to them. Ironically, the time we spend with them might give us the insights to save us from wasting our energy on ministry mistakes that could have been avoided if we listened to them in the first place, not to mention days and months of our time.

So give an ear to what your senior pastor, elders and parents of your young people tell you. And better yet, initiate and actively seek out their wisdom and advice for your ministry.