2020-12-03
2 Timoteus 2:2 NLV
Die meeste kerkleiers sal saamstem dat mense hulle grootste hulpbron is. Die vraag is dus: Hoekom bestee ons nie meer tyd daaraan om nuwe leiers op te lei nie? Een pastoor maan dat indien ons dit nie doen nie: ‘Beperk ons die langtermyn groei en effektiwiteit van ons organisasies. Paulus het hierdie waarheid ingestel en die geskiedenis verander. Hy het leiers rondom hom opgelei en hulle geleer hoe om dieselfde te doen. Hy het vir sy protégé, Timoteus, gesê: ‘…Leer hierdie groot waarhede aan betroubare mense wat bekwaam is om dit aan ander deur te gee.’ Dis die kern van goeie leierskap.’
Wanneer jy die tyd neem om sorgsame leiers te ontwikkel, leer hulle om daardie selfde vlak van sorg aan die mense wie hulle bedien, oor te dra. Daar is gevestigde beginsels wat van toepassing op leiers in enige organisasie is – en die kerk is nie ‘n uitsondering nie.
Jon Gordon sê byvoorbeeld: ‘Goeie kliëntediens begin deur eerste op die werknemer en tweedens op die kliënt gefokus te wees. Organisasies fokus te dikwels al hulle energie op die kliënt, terwyl hulle die mense wat bedien, ignoreer. Dit mag dalk in die korttermyn werk, maar uiteindelik word werknemers moeg, uitgebrand, negatief en wrokkig. Organisasies wat die beste diens lewer, het ‘n kultuur waar werknemers gewaardeer en versorg voel en waar hulle voel dat daar na hulle geluister word. As jy wil hê dat jou span moet dien, moet jy hulle dien. As jy wil hê dat jou mense moet omgee, moet jy vir hulle omgee. As jy wil hê dat jou span lief moet wees vir hulle werk, moet jy vir hulle lief wees. As jy wil hê dat jou werknemers hulle beste moet gee, moet jy jou beste vir hulle gee.’
Is jy dus besig om mense op te lei wat ander kan oplei?
Sielskos: Jos 5:1-8:29; Joh 16:1-11; Ps 130; Spr 28:21-24
2 Timothy 2:2 NLT
Most church leaders would concede that people are their greatest resource. Which raises the question, why we don’t devote more time to training new leaders?
One pastor admits that by failing to do this: “We limit the long-term growth and effectiveness of our organizations. Paul modeled this truth and changed the course of history. He cultivated other leaders around him, and taught them to do the same. He told his protégé, Timothy, ‘Teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will…pass them on.’ That’s the essence of great leadership.”
When you devote time to developing leaders with a caring attitude, they learn to pass the same level of care on to the people they minister to. There are proven principles that apply to leadership in any organization, and the church is no exception.
For example, Jon Gordon says: “Great customer service begins with being employee-focused first and customer-focused second. Too often organizations focus all their energy on the customer while ignoring the people who serve. This may work in the short run, but eventually employees become tired, burned out, negative, and resentful…
Organizations who deliver the best service have a culture where employees are valued, listened to, and cared for. In turn these employees value, care for, and serve their customers…If you model great service, your people will share it. If you want your team to serve, serve them. If you want your people to care, care about them. If you want your team to love their work, love them. If you want your employees to be their best, give them your best.”
So are you training people who can train others?
Soul food: Jos 5:1-8:29; John 16:1-11; Ps 130; Prov 28:21-24
2020-12-02
1 Korintiërs 15:55 NLV
Toe Carolyn Arends se pa sterwend in die hospitaal gelê het, het ‘n suurstofmasker dit amper onmoontlik vir hom gemaak om met sy familie te kommunikeer. Hulle was dus verras om hom ‘n ou liedjie wat hy in die Sondagskool geleer het, te hoor neurie: ‘With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm, as we go sailing home.’ Ure voor hy na sy huis in die hemel toe vertrek het, het ‘n lied wat hy sestig jaar gelede geleer het, hierdie sterwende man vertroos en krag gegee.
Arends skryf: ‘Ek hoop dat ek aan die einde oor Jesus sal sing, praat en dink. Die dood is die monster in die kelder; dit laat ons oor ons skouer kyk en weerhou ons daarvan om die dae wat aan ons gegee is, vreugdevol te bestee. Wanneer ons egter die dood uit die skaduwees bring en dit in die lig van die evangelie ophou, verloor die dood nie net sy angel nie, dit word ook ‘n aanmaning om ons tyd wys te gebruik (sien Psalm 90:12).
Wanneer ‘n gelowige besef dat hy op pad is na die dood (oormôre of oor 50 jaar), kan hy ophou om die geweldige energie te gebruik om sy eie mortaliteit te ontken en dit aanwend om sy ewige lotsbestemming hier en nou te begin leef. Hy kan doelbewus begin om in die dinge wat hy aan die einde by hom wil hê, te belê. Die dood maak seer, maar dis nie die einde nie. Ons rou nie soos diegene wat geen hoop het nie. Ek weet nie hoeveel dae ek oor het nie, maar ek wil elkeen van hulle gebruik om die waarheid oor wie Jesus is – en wie ek in Hom is – in myself in te prent.’
Sielskos: Jos 1-4; Joh 15:18-27; Ps 65;
Spr 28:17-20
1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT
How can we know that God has a place for us with Him in heaven? In John 14, Jesus said: ‘”Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am’ (v.1-3 NLT). Romans 6:23 says: ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (NIV).
Because of sin, death became part of our world, but Jesus chose to die for all our sins and paid the price for us. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience death, but it does mean that if we accept God’s gift of salvation, we can take our place with Him in heaven.
As Jesus was dying on the cross, one of the criminals said to Him: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42 NIV). Because of his faith and acceptance of who Jesus was, Jesus promised him: ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’ (v.43 NIV). We don’t know what crime he had committed, but it would have been a serious one. But his past didn’t matter – what mattered was that He repented and accepted Jesus. Because of Jesus’ victory over death, we can join in with saying ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ We can have confidence that, no matter what our past might be like, when we call out to God and accept salvation, He’ll have a pace for us and welcome us to heaven.
Jos 1-4; John 15:18-27; Ps 65; Prov 28:17-20
1 Corinthians 15:55 KJV
When Carolyn Arends’ father lay dying in the hospital, an oxygen mask made it virtually impossible for him to communicate with his family. So they were surprised to hear him humming an old Sunday school song: With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm, as we go sailing home. Just hours before he went home to heaven, a boyhood chorus he had learned sixty years ago gave this dying man comfort and strength.
Arends writes: “I hope I go down singing, speaking, and thinking about Jesus…Death unaddressed is the bogeyman in the basement; it keeps us looking over our shoulders and from entering joyously into the days we’ve been given. Dragged out of the shadows and held up to the light of the gospel, death not only loses its sting, it becomes a reminder to ‘use wisely all the time we have’ (See Psalm 90:12 CEV)…A race toward the finish line has a different sense of purpose and urgency than a jog around the block.
When a believer acknowledges he’s headed toward death [tomorrow or in 50 years], he [or she] can stop expending the tremendous energy it takes to deny his mortality and start living into his eternal destiny here and now. He can be intentional about investing in the things he wants to be with him at the end…Death hurts, but it’s not the end…we don’t mourn as those who have no hope…I don’t know how many days I’ve got left, but I want to use every one to get the truth about who Jesus is – and who I am in Him – more deeply ingrained.”
Soul food: Jos 1-4; John 15:18-27; Ps 65; Prov 28:17-20
