S6E28: What Every Exhausted Christian Leader Needs to Hear

Has the last year and a half left you exhausted? Are you wondering if you have the energy necessary to lead your team or organization? Josh Patterson, Lead Pastor of The Village Church shares about the importance of a deep, interior life and rich relationship with God that will enhance your spiritual leadership.

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In this episode:

• Josh's role and the church he serves (02:21)
• The Village Church has three lead pastors (03:33)
• Josh describes the challenge of the pastor or shepherd in 2021 (05:07)
• "2020 brought its fair share of leadership challenges from COVID to race to politics, etc. It certainly wasn’t a year for the faint of heart." (05:36)
• Some examples of leaders who have moved through this time with exceptional difficulty (06:23)
• "We have seen people elevating their ideology over their theology. It felt like theological convictions were moved to the background." (07:47)
• How some leaders handled this season with exceptional wisdom and care (10:39)
• "Wisdom, Conviction, Clear, Charitable." (10:53)
• "Wisdom: skill in the art of godly wisdom; this is something that is developed and exercised; it requires presence and discernment."  (11:23)
• "Conviction: this was a tough season to be flimsy; conviction doesn’t mean being unwilling to listen to other perspectives, but it definitely means standing strong." (12:34)
• Communication was clear and consistent (13:17)
• "Clear: we all experienced so many competing narratives and complex information this past year. The leaders who handled it well were clear in their communication." (13:22)
• "Charitable: they lead with kindness and gave others the benefit of the doubt." (14:01)
• What does it take to develop a sense of presence and discernment? (14:47)
• "Presence means being where your boots are." (15:42)
• "Discernment is the ability to sense and hear from the Spirit." (17:23)
• The message leaders need to hear most right now (19:23)
• "If it was easy it wouldn't be called leadership" (19:40)
• "The loneliness of leadership does not have to mean that I am alone as a leader." (22:55)
• "I’ve heard it said a lot that leadership is lonely”, but from my experience, the loneliness of leadership has more to do with burdens than relationships. A leader has to carry a unique burden, but it doesn’t mean that I have to be alone in my relationships." (23:00)
• "I have friends that have carried me in seasons as I have carried burdens. They can't take those burdens from me but they sure can buoy me up in relationship." (24:20)
• "We need more spiritual leaders." (28:51)
• "We need more men and women with a deep, interior life of character who are  shaped by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." (29:15)
• "A leader said, 'I don't know that everyone is going to be exposed to the virus. But everyone is being exposed by it." (29:48)
• Al's conviction that the world needs Christ now more than ever after walking The Camino de Santiago (31:07)
• Exhaustion can trap any leader, but the Christian leader has a special calling to lead on multiple platforms – spiritual, organizational, and physical. (31:40)
• "When I think about a Christian leader and I think about the privilege and responsibility of Christian leadership—what makes Christian leadership distinctly Christian is the presence of Christ. If Christ is not present, then you have leadership. You don't have Christian leadership." (32:13)
• You can only bring who you are to leadership (34:07)
• What does the spiritual leader need to hear now? (34:26)
• "The Lord has you and loves you. Regardless of how you think you led or performed or what you did or didn’t achieve in this season, the Lord’s love for you hasn’t changed."(34:39)
• What does the spiritual leader need to do to “exhaustion proof” him or herself in this season? (36:12)
• John 15, the abiding life and the call to abide (36:13)
• Being in communion and fellowship with (36:36)
• Soul rest is elusive to a lot of leaders (37:04)
• Sabbath, solitude, confession, repentance (38:24)
• "God has been generous to me in my relationships." (39:55)
• My wife loves my heart and cares for me well (40:13)
• Stay faithful (43:04)

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