That’s not actually correct. Miguel went skydiving and took me along.
For most of my life, I considered skydiving a lump-in-my-belly way to meet God. I couldn’t imagine a more terrifying way to die than seeing the earth rushing to meet me. Hello, Jesus!
But God’s been working on conquering fears.
Naturally, skydiving bubbled up in my mind. (Go ahead and laugh.)
Really? Jump Out Of A Plane?
I assured God that I didn’t want to meet him any sooner than necessary. But I knew that I needed to plan the jump. I was learning that there is freedom when you push through a fear.
A skydiving company operates out of my local airport - about three miles from my house.
I signed up for a tandem jump, meaning an experienced skydiver would be harnessed behind me. I had no parachute. Just Miguel, who is a Marine and teaches skydiving all week.
Photo by Skydive Orange Skies
He had the experience.
And the parachute.
On the airplane, as we rose to the height for the jump, he sat right behind me, checking, double-checking, triple-checking my harness. Then he told me to lean back, and he tightened the straps between us. We were closer than peanut butter and jelly.
I Had ONE Job
When it was our turn, my job was to duck-walk to the open door. He turned us to face the sky and then out we went. Well, he jumped and took me along.
We tumbled over and then he put up a small parachute to stabilize us.The first thirty seconds were a mix of whistling wind and hazy landscape. We may have been falling 120 mph.
Miguel pulled the chute, and we seemed to stop in mid-air. I thought I could see forever. Maybe farther than that.
Our landing was like landing on a down pillow. Miguel cushioned any bumps. I doubt any existed. He was that good.
The Real Lesson Was On The Ground
That’s when I realized this jump was much less about pushing through a fear and much more about expanding my understanding of trust.
I trusted Miguel with my life.
And when God whispers that he’s got my back, he’s even more able than Miguel is.
Pretty good lesson on a Saturday morning.
Note: I booked this adventure through Skydive Orange Skies and highly recommend their safety and professionalism.
Leaders make decisions that are for the good of their tribe, based on clear goals. But what if those decisions land the leaders in trouble?
We’ve been following the story of Paul and Silas as they were visiting the ancient Greek city of Philippi.* Paul’s goal was to explain the story of Jesus to the people he met. His first encounter was at a prayer meeting. That went well.
The demon came out of the girl, but the servant girl’s masters lost their source of wealth. They were charging people for her fortunes.
Paul and Silas ended up in jail. They were severely beaten, and their feet clamped in stocks. Prisons in those days were miserable places, cold and damp.
Wouldn’t it be easy for Paul to re-examine his decision? The prayer group experience soared. Why had he tampered with the servant girl?
Locked away in a dark prison, Paul felt the bruises and the dried blood from his beating. Was that servant girl really worth this kind of torture?
Clarity of the goal always helps a leader and Paul didn’t forget why he had come to Philippi. It wasn’t for a cushy place to stay and a small group who hung on his every word. It was also for a poor servant girl who spoke words she didn’t understand. Paul had come to be sure people heard clearly the story of Jesus. This servant girl deserved to hear – not to distract others from the truth.
So Paul and Silas remained devoted to that goal. They were in prison, but that didn’t change their aim. Their audience now was other prisoners, and so they prayed and sang hymns to God – in part so the other prisoners would hear more about the nature of God.
God did amazing work that night. A massive earthquake shook the prison, and the doors flew open. Chains fell off. The jailer awoke to a shattered prison and assumed he had lost all the prisoners. That was the death penalty in the Roman empire, but Paul intervened.
“We’re all here!” he told the jailer. That’s impressive leadership in itself: the prisoners had not scooted away like cockroaches when the lights come on. They stayed with Paul.
Once again, Paul stayed focused on his goal. He wanted to tell people the story of Jesus. He wanted to explain the fantastic work of God. He was able to do that with the prayer group. And now he was able to tell a jailer about Jesus.
Talk about a transformation! The jailer listened and believed. He told his household. He cared for the prisoners and washed their wounds. He took them to his own house and gave them a meal.
Had Paul lost focus on his goal, he wouldn’t have taken the risk to free the servant girl. Had he forgotten why he came to Philippi, he could have escaped with the earthquake hit. In both cases, he took a risk.
But when the morning came, people had been changed. They found new life in Jesus.
Whether the immediate results are painful or joyful, leaders make decisions based on their goals. Even if it means time in a cold and painful dungeon.
How do you feel about offending someone? There are trolls in our society who revel in pushing other’s buttons, hoping to offend so they can enjoy the ensuing storm. But most of us avoid hurting others.
But is it ever necessary for a leader to offend?
Let’s take a look at Paul and Silas. As they traveled through cities in ancient Greece, they came to Philippi where they met a girl who had some sort of prophetic spirit.
The Ancient Greeks
The ancient Greeks regularly sought out priests for advice. Whether it involved a business decision, a marriage, or even a battle, they wanted to hear from the gods. So this girl would have found many willing to pay to hear about the future.
She began following Paul and his companions, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
Most who heard that daily prophecy would assume that Paul was following Zeus or some great god. They would not have thought that Paul served God. And her words about being saved were not the Christian idea of salvation. Those hearing the girl would have assumed she was talking about rescue from a disaster or perhaps given good health or prosperity.
In other words, her daily prophecy sounds true to a Christian’s ear, but it would have misled the Greeks around her. They would have expected Paul to serve as the mediator for a great god, bringing them prosperity or other benefits.
Not Paul’s Idea
This was not what Paul was preaching, and he finally had enough. In the name of Jesus, he commanded the spirit to leave her. And it did.
Paul offended her masters. They had hopes of wealth through her prophecies – and people’s eagerness to pay for what they thought was divine guidance.
What happened next might have given Paul pause. The masters grabbed him and his friends and dragged them to the authorities in the marketplace. A riot ensued.
False charges were leveled. Emotions were whipped into a hot mess. Angry officials had Paul and Silas severely beaten and then thrown into prison.
First century jails were cold, damp, uncomfortable. Paul and Silas were taken to the inner dungeon, and their feet clamped in stocks.
So, was it worth it for Paul to offend these men?
Paul’s concerns were:
A servant girl under the control of a spirit.
Masters were oppressing the girl, using her oppression for their own financial gain.
Her message caused people to misinterpret Paul’s message.
Those are good concerns. Would he have proceeded if he’d known the consequences? Of course, if you know the end of the story, God would do more in Philippi.
But for now, let’s stay with questions: is it OK for leaders to offend? Do the goals make the possible repercussions worthwhile?
These are questions leaders have to consider before diving in. What are your thoughts?
I’ve finished the series about Jonah and his leadership style. We can learn leadership from those who do it backward, too. And Jonah did. He followed his own agenda and suffered for it.
When we think of leaders, we tend to think of strong-willed people. If we’re generous, we call them courageous and vision-driven. If we’re not so impressed, we call them bossy and controlling.
And either impression can be accurate, depending on the leader. I tend to think of leaders as lions and I’ve met some lions that needed a little taming. They were bossy and controlling, not good traits for an effective leader.
Lion at Denver zoo
What does God do with strong-willed leaders? We might assume he uses them or we might assume that he operates with the idea of making the weak strong.
He does both.
I do want to remind you that we’re talking about ourselves as leaders, not someone else. It’s easy to look at another person and think, “Boy, do they need to learn to be less bossy.”
But what if that strong-willed leader is me? You? Strap on your adulting uniform and let’s plow forward.
How does God tame a strong-willed leader? Among our examples from the Bible is Jonah, who made quick decisions. Just not always the right ones.
Leaders need to be uncomfortable at times to learn
Those in leadership roles might assume they are fully trained, finally ready to lead. No leader is every complete. There’s more to learn and sometimes it comes through uncomfortable times.
Jonah’s story illustrates that. He assumed he heard God and was ready to step into the chief prophetic role. He could take over the process.
When his process took him away from God’s direction, God made him uncomfortable. In the whale. In the blistering heat.
The goal was to learn more about God’s nature.
Leaders remember the goal, not the process.
Need a new strategy for managing your team? Want a new catchphrase for looking like you’re going somewhere? Those are available everywhere. But do those pop strategies get you to your goal? Leaders remember the goal.
Sadly, Jonah missed God’s goal. He was interested in a process: speak God’s words to God’s people. He’d done that before, and it worked pretty well.
God’s goal was to draw people to himself. God showed compassion to the sailors and to the people of Nineveh. His goal was to bring them closer.
Jonah missed the goal.
Strong-willed leaders don’t always win.
When I was a child, I was pretty sure I could be more stubborn than anyone. I was sure that my will would win.
The best lesson I ever learned was that my mother could be more persistent than me. I lost to her. A lot.
Leaders need some humility. And the ability to listen. Our way is not always the best way.
Just because I could push an idea through did not mean it was the best notion.
Jonah had a chance to learn that lesson. Running away from a hated enemy seemed like a great plan. He had revenge, not restoration, in mind for Nineveh.
God pulled him back and showed him something new: that God has restoration in mind.
Strong-willed leaders are common. The term is almost redundant.
[bctt tweet=”A strong-willed leader devoted to a vision that comes out of a humble and listening attitude is almost unstoppable.” username=”kathybrasby” https://wp.me/pahZ3c-4g]A leader like Jonah, stubborn and full of his own biases, will stumble. A strong-willed leader devoted to a vision that comes out of a humble and listening attitude is almost unstoppable.
QUESTION: Have you ever been a strong-willed leader? How has God reined you in?
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