If you were presented with two people who said they were able to lead you through a dangerous wilderness, who would you trust more; the one who seemed sure of herself or the one who seemed a bit nervous? I'm guessing most of us would go with the confident leader. In spite of this, a lot of us tend to lead like the guy who doesn't seem quite sure of himself.

A little bit of self doubt is a good thing. It keeps us humble and can prevent us from making potentially bad decisions. If our team is healthy, we can draw strength from the feedback we give each other. The feedback we give each other helps to reinforce good ideas and protect us from poor ones.

At the same time, self doubt can be a barrier to effectively leading when it paralyzes us or causes us to present our gifts as something other than the full measure of their strength. We overthink, we become self-conscious, we pull ourselves out of worshiping with our all and offer only a portion of our gifts.

There is an impressive roster of people God called in scripture. Every one of them had perfectly good reasons not to serve, ways that disqualified them from offering what they had to their congregations. For many of them, they knew that leading in the way that was needed would be a threat to their own lives.

So what's been your "perfectly good reason not to serve?" Why haven't you been more leaned in, taken more ownership? Take heart in the thought that God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called. Hear the call the disciples gave the blind man in Mark 10: "Cheer up! On your feet!

He's calling you."

[and here's a printable, text version of this Fertilizer]

Jeremy is a leader who joined the worship leading community late in life...in his late thirties. (so he gets a pass on wearing skinny jeans) In his first ministry assignment, he is establishing a healthy, thriving team who is leading effectively. He serves part time at Grandview United Methodist Church. Reach out...say hello: jeremy@grandviewumc.org  

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