double your impact AS A LEADER
What will it look like for you as a Journey Group leader to "double your impact?"
A leader has to think about a lot of things. If you're a husband you have to think about leading your wife. If you're a CEO you have to strategically lead your company to it's next goal. If you're a Journey Group leader you have to ask God for wisdom and discernment on how to lead the 10 to 12 folks in your group. Along the way, your envisioning community and discipleship as a few of the chief goals while thinking about your next curriculum so that you can reach those goals. While all of this is true, let me challenge a "step it up" moment...
As a leader, how can you double your impact? In other words, the survival of a leader's role is the stuff that naturally ebs and flows (group meetings, socials, agendas, curriculum prep, etc.) but the impact of a leader focused on doubling his/her impact runs deeper than survival.
IMPACT trumps COMFORT
For instance, one of our Journey Groups that launched October 2009 has already doubled in impact. The leader dove right into this group creating community and discipleship - the goals of Journey Group DNA, but also took it to the next level by April of 2009. What did he do? He doubled his group! Although he and his wife were gaining a lot of momentum with the 8 couples that we hooked them up with in October, they released and commissioned one of those couples to become Journey Group leaders for the fall of 2009. Impact trumped their comfort level.
I grabbed coffee with the leader (of the first group) and we laughed together about how the DNA of the newest group that they commissioned is way different. The demographics are different. The interests are different. The age range is different. The curriculum emphasis is different. A lot is different because one group's impact doubled.
As a church, as leaders, we're on a quest to answer the double your impact question for every individual. What will your role be as a Journey Group leader considering this movement?
What if you just tried to double yourself? What if you looked at your group of 8 to 12 folks and invested some time (discipled intentionally) into 1 or 2 of those people that you think has leadership potential?
Over the years in small group ministry and ministry in general, I've come to terms with the fact that somebody else can reach people better than I can. No matter how hard I try and making it "fit" with certain folks - there is always someone I know, that I can influence, to lead that "fit" way better.
So what will it look like for you - personally in your shoes - to double? Wrestle with the Lord on this question. Ask the Holy Spirit to inspire the answer.
On the double,
Dusty