Leadership Tip: Get Off the Stage

Leadership Tip: Get off the stage for a little while.

I don’t mean you should quit leading worship. You don’t even have to take a Sunday off. But get off the stage and serve somewhere that isn’t under lights. Serve someone where you can look them in the eyes, not just barely make out who it is through the haze.

Recently, my church linked up with a local homeless ministry to help distribute backpacks to under-resources students in our area. It was awesome.

For one thing - I wasn’t the leader. As much as I love leading things, an outreach that I had little to do with planning left me following. It left me experiencing leadership from the other side. It turns out, other people lead some things better than me.

It also gave me a chance to serve alongside people I don’t always get to serve with. I got to make friends, catch up on people’s lives, and hear some great stories.

Lastly, I got to do real, hands on ministry like Jesus and His disciples did. Of course leading worship is a ministry. Of course everything about Sunday morning is too. I’m not taking away from that. Jesus didn’t just lead from a platform though, so niether should we.

Jesus and the disciples talked to people who weren’t involved in their circle. They loved people who didn’t know Jesus. They got around real people with real issues. Jesus definitely spent time in front of the crowd, perhaps even on a platform (or a mount); there was time for that, but there was also time spent in ministry off stage. Build in some time like that!