Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 028
Don’t Be Slothful
Hebrews 6:11-12
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish (the King James version says “slothful”),but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Sluggish in the Greek is Nothros, which means “to be dull, monotonous, unexciting, slow, or sluggish; something that has lost its speed and lost its momentum.”
When I talk to people about vision and direction, I’m looking for what speed they are going. It’s not where a person is presently; it’s where they are accelerating to. How fast are they pursuing what God has put in their heart?
One of the keys of successful leadership is having an element of urgency, but not chaos. You should be making a wake—but not a wave. Waves can knock things off. A wake, however, creates momentum. Our pace should not be about our personality or our style. The value of the objective needs to be what determines how fast we are going. Are you making a wake, or have you become sluggish?
Hebrews 6 is not referring to a lazy person. This person is doing their work. They are bearing the load. Yet they are being slothful. They lack energy and excitement about the work they are doing.
When you talk about vision, there should be an energy barometer. Vision is not something that is on a sheet of paper, on a flow chart, or a mantra people quote. Vision is a wake that is being created by those who are leading.
This Scripture is warning us not to settle into our own pace, doing what is comfortable for us, rather than trying to pick up the pace and moving forward. When you move forward with energy, you are authenticating the value of the vision. Without some energy, without some excitement, without some urgency, you depreciate and devalue the vision.
Are you willing to be stretched in your leadership style? Are you receiving energy from the Holy Spirit? I heard someone say, “When you are doing something you know is good but you feel like quitting, then you know you are doing it in your own strength.” Are you dependent on the ministry of the Holy Spirit working through you, giving you that divine stirring, energy, and leadership that you need so you won’t be sluggish?
Often, people are working hard, but they aren’t picking up the pace. What area of ministry, what area of leadership are you involved in right now that you would say is important, but your pace would lead someone to believe that it isn’t important? In what area of life, ministry, leadership do you need to pick up the pace? What area do you need more energy?
This isn’t about not being lazy. It’s about being focused, having a drive, not being dull, so we can run the race set before us.
Examine yourself and the things that are important to you. Ask: Is there something I am doing that I need to put more emphasis (in the form of time and speed) and more focus on in order to create movement?
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
