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This is the second of a three-part series on leadership development for Christian leaders in China. Leadership development is a journey where we will face obstacles that must be overcome if we are to be the leaders God called us to be. These obstacles, or “battles” is where the enemy seeks to render us ineffective in our work for our Lord. They represent core issues we must face as believers who are called to lead.
Battle #2 – From Doing-Centered to Being-Centered Leadership God is more concerned with who we are than what we do.
That, to me, is a life-changing statement. God is passionate about you becoming a more deeply committed child of God, because He knows that as you become more like Christ, your life will be transformed from the inside out.
 Another way to state this is that God is primarily concerned with our being, before our doing. As Christian leaders, we are doing ourselves to death. I know of very few people that could be accused of spending so much time developing their character as a child of God that they are not getting anything done to help the kingdom. In fact, I do not know anybody. The people I know, who have been spending an inordinate amount of time developing their heart and character as children of God, are doing some pretty amazing things. They are people in balance; people who appropriately prioritize being before doing.
How do you find that balance in a job that is measured solely by doing? That is the challenge we face, and you will need to fight that battle first on a personal level. Restoring the balance between being and doing is the first and most critical responsibility of any worker in God’s kingdom. The enemy will deceive us into thinking that God desires our doing first, even at the expense of our being.
If you believe this statement, then let me ask how well that priority is reflected in your daily schedule. Does your work life reflect God’s priority of forming and shaping you to be a child of God, that you might do the work of the kingdom? How much time are you spending intimately in the Word of God, in prayer, in devotion? In what ways do you make yourself available daily for God to take you on the journey of the transformation of your heart?
Far too many pastors and ministry leaders who are called to be sowers of the Word of God enter each day with empty seed bags. We cannot sow what we do not have, and what replenishes our seed bags is not our doing but our being; our availability to the movement of the Holy Spirit to bring us to deeper faith, richer fellowship and greater understanding.
Maintaining this balance will require you to fight this battle in your place of work. In a system that expects us to be doers, you will have to battle to find and maintain the balance of the faithful leader in God’s kingdom.
What does that balance look like to you in your personal life, your family life, your marriage and your work life? Is your “being” being sacrificed on the altar of deadlines and performance? It is absolutely critical to your ministry to find and maintain a healthy balance of being and doing. Pray for it, fight for it and seek God’s help and guidance daily that you might reclaim it and maintain it in every area of your life. Only then can you sow good seed into the lives of those you love.
A third way to state this important truth is that God is primarily concerned with the transformation of our hearts rather than the transaction of our business. So let me ask you:
• What does this process of transformation look like in your journey?
• In your life, what is most in need of being changed and transformed?
• When you think about God calling you on a journey from doing-centered to being-centered leadership, where do you see him working in that transformation?
Submit yourself every morning completely to God’s leading. Hunger and thirst for the ongoing work of transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Find your balance and do not let anything rob you of it. For, it is through this balance that you will be most effective for the work Christ has called you to do.
Dr. Scott Rodin is the Managing Principal of OneAccord NFP, a firm that partners with ministries and churches for greater effectiveness.
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