Passionate Leadership

Philip spoke this past Sunday on Volunteering. He said it is not something you should be guilted into doing but it is something you should desire to do. Volunteering and serving the Lord is a privilege. I have never found more satisfaction in life then when I am using my gifts to serve God for no other reason then the fact that I want to see people come to know Jesus. Many of you know I work a second job as an IT guy and I love it but I will never love the It job as much as I love my staff position at Discover Point. I am passionate about what I do. The other staff will tell you if I get heated on a subject they will have a 1000 word essay on the matter in their inboxes the next morning (I know they get sick of that). Philip right now is very passionate about getting into the new building and for good reason. We have very passionate people about volunteering in our church. Don't get me wrong passion can sometimes be a bad thing but passion in the right person used correctly can be life changing to the people around them.

Passion is surely a huge quality in a leader but does being passionate make you a leader? I have a Friend of mine who is a youth pastor in South Carolina. They were trying to build a middle school program but did not have the financial means to hire a full time middle school pastor. They were using volunteers. One volunteer stepped up and really tried to take charge of the program. He seemed passionate about what he was doing. He would tell everyone how much he loved working with middle schoolers. After a while though it became very clear that this volunteer was not a leader and despite much counseling with the staff it was evident that something needed to change because the there was no structure to the group. The volunteer was becoming more of a chaperon than a leader. There was no spiritual growth happening in the middle schoolers. They're were a lot of other things but let just say this is a intelligent staff full of down to earth guys who love everyone and who give everyone a chance to serve. They were frustrated. So they hired a full time middle school pastor and offered the volunteer a chance to be a huge part of the program. The volunteer got upset but still excepted the position. After awhile the new middle school pastor got frustrated and came to the staff and ask if they would pray about finding a positing for this volunteer because he had become lackluster and lazy. What they staff originally thought was passion was really a control need. The volunteer was only passionate when they were in control. The staff has since counseled the volunteer and plugged him into a position where he is more qualified. I am very proud of this staff for the way they handled the whole thing. The volunteer is happy and did not leave the church and the middle school program is growing. Passion is defiantly a huge quality in a leader. But there are defiantly other characteristics that a leader has to have to truly be a leader not just passion alone. Can you be a true leader without passion?