From my weekly Monday morning column at Engaging Church Blog:
“The highest currency leaders trade on is trust.”
How’s that for a Monday morning reminder! And what a reminder it is, especially at the start of a week that well tempt us in any number of ways to violate that trust, that will coax into sacrificing our integrity at the altar of selfish ambition, desire, pleasure, you name it.
This powerful reminder to us ministry leaders comes from Mel Lawrenz’s new book Spiritual Influence: The Hidden Power Behind Leadership. Our highest currency as ministry leaders is the trust we cultivate and maintain between us and our people. In other words, the only thing that matters for spiritual influence is integrity. As Iwrote last month, one of the main reasons we believe God has called us to ministry is to influence people. We got into this business, paid or volunteer, in order to influence people to give their life and lifestyle to King Jesus. And the trust it takes to have that privileged influence must be cultivated and maintained.
While flipping through Lawrenz’s book, I was reminded about my weighty responsibility to steward one of my greatest assets as a leader, a life of integrity. He reminded me that integrity carries with it the heavy burden of being whole, intact, connected. And that burden has everything to do with pursuing a whole, intact, connected public and private life. Here are some potent words for us this Monday:
