How to be an Offering – Banishing Pride in Position

Ryan Egan —  July 20, 2011 — 6 Comments

Anyone who is on some type of “platform”; being a pastor, worship leader, or even having a lot of social media followers, can quickly and easily run into a problem:

“Wow.  Look at this, I have some influence.  People listen to me.  This is pretty amazing.”

Now, the problem isn’t with people listening to that person, or even that they have influence.  The problem lies with how that influenced is used.  Will it be used for God’s glory or for personal gain? A new worship leader and blogging friend of mine says today that it’s possible and quite clear from Scripture that it could be used for both (think Moses, David, Solomon, the Apostle Paul), but there will always be a danger to take pride in the position we’ve been allowed to be placed into and forget about our call to magnify the greatness of God.

When we take pride in our position we start to do things like:

  • Believe we’re the only ones with the right answers or solution
  • Yearn for more influence, followers, and recognition of man
  • Stop relying on God’s Word and character to drive our daily living

There are a few simple ways to combat getting caught up in our position that I’m learning to apply daily:

  • Spend time in God’s Word every day and remind yourself that He is infinitely more great than we can ever imagine
  • Allow wisdom from God’s Word to influence every daily decision made
  • Pray daily, “God, thank you for putting me in this position.  I don’t deserve it and it’s only because of You that I’m here.”
  • Listen to other people’s ideas and suggestions and implement them.
  • Give preference to people above yourself in conversation (listen first, then speak) and organization (live to equip leaders as you lead, not dictate).
  • Learn the words “You’re right” and “I’m sorry” and say don’t be afraid to say them when you mess things up.

Lead and lead well.  But don’t let your position become an idol and a cause of offense to those who are under your influence.

Question: How do you balance increasing leadership and influence with the ability to stay humble and continue to magnify the greatness of God?

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Ryan Egan

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Ryan is a follower of Christ, husband, father, worship leader, & creative. He is heavily involved in the Association of Free Lutheran Churches and desires to teach others to live a life of worship in everything they do.