T. David Beck: The Simple Way of Jesus

I have gravitated toward leadership roles for pretty much my whole life. In recent years, I have begun to understand that I have held many misconceptions about what leadership is and how to be an effective leader. Here is one of them.  I have known that it is essential for a leader to have vision. I have wondered how vision gets formed. Judging from a lot of leadership literature, it would seem the leader just bursts onto the scene with an innate vision bubbling forth from his/her heart. When I read those sorts of things, I feel like I must be a really lousy leader. I don't have those kinds of superpowers. And now that I am learning more about leadership, I think the myth of the superhero leader is extremely unhelpful. The world needs a lot of leaders, but there aren't many superheros. So what will work for the rest of us? In my experience, vision is part instinct and part other factors. It comes from a process of development. We shouldn't expect it to be innate....

A lot of us are coming off of ramped-up spiritual practices during Lent and Easter. It's that season when Christians pray more, fast, confess, do without, and attend special spiritual services. If we are involved in supporting church, it is likely we poured some energy into putting together Easter weekend services. At Sanctuary, we shared two special prayer journeys, one that lasted through Lent and one that led us through the last 24 hours of Jesus' life (thanks, Laura!). And then on Easter morning, we reached a seasonal mountaintop as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Many of us then feasted with friends and relatives in the afternoon. Easter isn't just a day; it's a season -- arguably the highest holiday of the Christian year. Easter is over. Now what? The other day I saw where a pastor posted on Facebook, “Anyone else get the ‘creative let-down’ after Easter? I'm sitting in my office, uninspired. Almost in disbelief that there is another Sunday less t...