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Don’t Do It All, Part Two
If you’ve ever worked out too hard, you lose your edge. Not only does your body get weak, so does your mind.
Could you do too much ministry and weaken your body, mind, and spirit? I think so.
Years ago I went to counseling for being a workaholic. I honestly believed I could do it all and do it better than most people.
My counselor told me that if I worked too much, I had one of two problems (perhaps both):
1) I was a weak leader.
2) I was full of pride.
Those words shook me deeply. If I was unable to delegate, that made me a poor leader. If I was unwilling to delegate, I was full of pride.
Ouch.
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Craig, two things jump right out at me from your post today.
First, you humbled yourself to seek guidance and counseling. Two, you listened and applied it into practice. Lifechurch would not be where it was today if you hadn’t. So my question is this: What led you to seek counseling? How did you recognize you needed help in this area?
Kyle, Allow me to burst your bubble. I was about 26 years old and asked by the leadership to go to counseling. I went kicking and screaming.
what a great post.
i have been finding (mainly in my own life) that humility is probably the answer for a lot of leaders. i know i am working on being more humble, (ugh… it hurts so bad) and your example is a great one. keep it up. i love everything you guys do
[...] Don’t Do It All Part One & Part Two. Craig Groeschel shares something that I have just started to learn, that I can’t and shouldn’t do everything. Some people will make you feel guilty if you don’t but better some unhappy guilt pushers than a burned out ineffective leader. [...]
“I was about 26 years old and asked by the leadership to go to counseling.”
Even though you were kicking and screaming, and even though you might have been very hurt by it at the time, isn’t it amazing that now you can look back and see that those were some very wise leaders who knew what was best for you and acted on that knowledge?
So many leaders are afraid to be tough with people because they don’t want to ever “offend” anyone. But yet, when we recognize a problem, address it, AND give help for it, the outcome is amazing.
Hey Craig,
Great post. I think that sometimes we as church leaders, or even Americans, have forgotten how to relax. We’ve lost the ability to just enjoy ourselves without thinking about our obligations. Every unplanned moment feels like a wasted one, when in fact, we need that downtime. So, my question is: How do you relax?
When our senior pastor and myself need to unwind, we play a little bit of Halo 2. There’s nothing like shooting your fellow pixelated Master Chief to relieve built up tension. If anyone else plays Halo 2, leave a comment on our blog, we’d love to set up a church leader Halo 2 tournament.
So, Craig, are you ready to play? You’ve been challenged.
Several years ago the CEO I worked for (I was the C-EIEIO) told me that I did not have an “S” on my chest, and I could not do it all.
It was not about mentoring or replacing myself, I was enlightened that I am a control freak driven by a fear of failure (brought back memories of college tennis).
Bottom line…I was never going to be available for the faith risks God wanted me to take if I was always hanging on to the stored value; my worth does not come from the value I have already created but the value I am set to create.
Kevin, You asked how I relax. I play sports, workout, play with the kids, or read. Sorry, no Halo.