are weary. Come to me, we’ll do this together.”
But it’s this perfect culture of this world, and we
can’t live up to it, I can’t live up to it. I’ll do my
very best before God, but actually I need you
and you need me. We need each other in our
corners so we walk together. I think leadership
for the future, you know John C. Maxwell just
wrote a new book called “Leadershift”, and he’s
talking about vulnerability and I’m like, “You go
Mr. Maxwell!” That’s a brilliant thing. And we
need each other as leaders, we need to have
someone in our corner we can talk to.
[WM] In the Checks and Balances chapter
you speak to the busyness we’re faced with
these days. I love that you point out that even
our fruitful seasons have a cost for the nearest
and dearest to us. What are your thoughts on
recognizing that you’re heading into a fruitful
season and how to maintain balance before
you lose it?
[Darlene] If you really understand the power
of the church, the body of the church, I think
this is the real importance of relationships
and community. It means that if I’m having a
season where things are out of balance, I’m
accountable to sitting in a room every couple
of weeks with fellow Christ followers, and
someone in there is going to pray onto me, or
say to me, “Hey, this might be out of whack,
this might need some adjustment.” When
you’ve got a little group that you’re accountable
to, that is the church, that’s the body, that’s why
I keep talking about the table of late, God’s just
been speaking to me about it the last couple
months as the church gets bigger across the
earth. And He is doing amazing things, but it
does require people to sacrifice. The only way
we can sustain all of this is that we have a table
that we are sitting across from one another, and
praying for each other, and looking one another
in the eye, saying, “How are you doing? How
is your marriage doing? How are you really
doing?” And that’s why I put in there checks
and balances, because I’m trying to push
against the “harder, faster, better, bigger, no
accountability” trend.
Darlene with her husband Mark
[WM] My favorite ‘ministry food’ is pizza that. You can walk into a church of thousands
because it brings people together ‘in the round’. and you will not leave before you’ve had a meal
What are some practical steps for learning to with someone.
bring people to the table?
Such is the power and the value of relationships.
[Darlene] We’re on this learning curve and And I think that’s what we have to do, just
actually it’s so much fun, I love being a Pastor. make sure that in all of the doing that you have
We’re trying to make the church less busy constant moments where you are fully seen,
because we live in a world where time is our where you are fully known. It’s going to take
most precious thing. We do a lot of global vulnerability, I think it’s part of the new church
missions, and if you look at a church in the that’s immerging, and the wonder that happens
developing world where a lot of them have in some of the most amazing services across
a little more time, not a lot because they still the earth, it’s incredible. At the same time, we
have to work really hard to stay alive, but the cannot let go of this vulnerability of being – in
church is thriving because of the power of the Him I live and move and have my being. I think
table. The table might be a piece of floor in the we’re gonna have to fight for it, so sometimes
middle of the dirt, but they will make time for you’re gonna lose some programming… so
April 2019
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