Reflective Leadership

The ideal job! What I've always been looking for! The CEO of the most exciting, profitable Company that I have ever known wants me to work for Him and has hired me to fulfill an important leadership role. He has agreed to pay me very, very well to accomplish the responsibilities related to my new role; as a matter of fact; they have made me a partner in the company. You have been given those specific responsibilities; understand how you are to consistently conduct yourself and have a CEO you really appreciate and admire for his leadership and sacrifice in making the company all that it has become. You start this adventure completely sold out, fired up with a deep desire to be the best in the business in every aspect. Over time you know that you have become lazy, uninterested, disconnected, and uncommitted to the "Company's Mission and Profitability". The CEO of the company asks to meet with you to discuss with you your progress and productivity for the company. "What does he specifically want to talk about? What am I doing wrong? I've got to be honest; am I really doing all that I should, all that I could, all that I agreed to do? Can they tell I really love what I have been asked to do? Does the CEO know I appreciate what he has done by giving me this opportunity? If I can fix whatever went wrong, what do I need to do differently? I realize I need to be more and do more not out of obligation but from my desire to be ALL that the CEO really saw in me from the beginning. Now, where do I begin and how do I start to regain what the CEO knows I have to offer? " Now consider this, you were offered a free gift of salvation from the God of the Universe. This gift came in the form of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ! It came at the expense of the excruciating pain and brutal death on the cross and the shed blood of God in human form for your sin - those that you committed today, the ones everybody knows about, and yes, those private ones too. It doesn't end there. He's not dead - He conquered death for you too in His victorious resurrection; He lives today! This gift offers you, forgiveness, grace, and mercy, the opportunity to escape death and hell for eternity, but even more astounding, an eternal life on streets of gold with the audience of the One who made it all possible; Jesus! To receive this offer, you must accept the gift of God, believe in His son (the gift), Jesus, and commit your life to Him! If you were anything like me when you accepted the gift, you were ready to start your adventure in Christ, sold out and fired up! Sound familiar? Then something happened. Maybe it was time, maybe effort, maybe age, girls, sports, friends, hunting, fishing-you fill in the blank. You lost your spark, your interest in being all you could be for Christ. Now you may have a wife, children, a job, a mortgage, and/or a bucket full of other worries and concerns that have continued to pull your focus further away from HIM! You know what it means to be "sold out" to Jesus, but there is too much stuff in the way. Well, today the CEO of heaven, the one whom you admire and love for His sacrifice, for making you all that you have become, wants to pull you aside and ask you to consider where you are in your progress and productivity for the Kingdom of God; we'll call it Kingdom work! He wants you to take an honest look- first at some real men, not unlike you and me, to prove it really is humanly possible. Then you'll be asked to take an honest look at where you are now and where you think you need to be. Finally, we'll let Christ show us how to travel the distance between where we are and where He wants us to be! Together, we will begin to find our way back to being more Christ-like for Kingdom Work!