The Parent Leader

I'm up in DC as a student again, this time at Wesley Theological Seminary in there Doctor of Ministry track on Church Leadership Excellence.  It's all about leadership, and my mind is swimming a bit from the informational overload.  I've thought a lot, though, about how we underestimate the various leadership positions we hold, especially parents.

Some would say, "Oh, I'm not a leader."  If you have kids, you're a leader.  You don't get a choice.  You lead someone.  You have a follower or followers.  Lovett Weems, my professor this week, said something today that made me think about parents:  "Leadership is and is not a voice activated system."  There is something important about leaders casting vision.  They must name the dream ahead, the future reality that the organization is shooting for, whether that be a Fortune 500 company, a church, or a family.  However, leadership isn't done simply by casting a vision at a board meeting.  Leadership takes working the plan and massaging the vision.  You have to put feet on it.  You have to do what you visioned to do. 

If you want your baking company to make better cakes, the best cakes in the world, then you need to get busy testing recipes.  If you want your church to reach young people, then you better get to work developing ministry that reaches kids.  Often, leaders name things, but never do anything about them.  And the vision will eventually fail. 

I'll bet you had a dream for how you wanted your kids to turn out.  Maybe you still do.  If you are follower of Christ, what is most important to you?  Is your goal for your kids to become a deeply devoted follower of Jesus who is capable of withstanding the pressures of peers and culture to make God-honoring decisions?  Is your vision for them to independently choose lives of Christian morality and integrity?  Maybe you haven't thought it out that far, but that's probably high on the list.  It oughtta be.  So, what are we doing as leaders/parents to help that?  Are we making worship as a family a priority on Sundays?  Are we teaching them Biblical principals at home or are we solely depending on our church to do that?  Don't you think the CEO of the baking company ought to know what good cake taste like?  As parents, we have to lead our kids and work our plan to help them take the next steps we hope they will take.  When they turn 9 or 10 we'll have to re-cast a new vision for a next step and work it even harder.  Same goes for 13 and 16 and graduation.  What worked at 5 won't work at 15, but they need vision from us for a future reality, and they need us to show them and lead them how to get there.  Let us not just dream a dream for our kids or simply tell them what we want them to be like, let's give them tools, teaching, and growing opportunities to get there.