![]() I had the privilege of taking my second trip to Togo, West Africa this past January (2018). I was going to do some filming for our initiative as well as getting to know the culture and learning as much as possible about what's next for the 6th Degree Initiative. I was there for two and a half weeks on this trip. I got to see all that God had done since a year earlier on my first trip. To say the movement had grown would be an understatement. The first time I was in Togo, we had one brick-and-mortar church plant and we had just bought property for our second... and that was it. We were dreaming and talking about growth but that was where it was. In just one year we went from on brick-and-mortar church to, two thriving brick-and-mortar churches, 3 house churches that were launched out of the first church plant and 2 other churches partnered with us in our network. Yeah... unbelievable growth! Numbers of churches sounds great but the focus is life transformation. If that isn't happening then nothing else matters. In the year of 2017, we saw over 1,000 people come to Christ in an unreached people group. This is becoming a movement with exponential growth! God is going before the team and we are just trying to keep up. As I was observing the incredible movement of God, I started to observe our local pastors who are the ones leading the charge. I started asking the question, "how are these men leading this incredible movement of God?" While observing I noticed three specific characteristics that these leaders carried. 1. Humble The number one characteristic that I saw in these pastors was humility. They led the people in their church and the neighbors in their village with so much humility. They approached every message with humility. They approached every conversation with humility. When I would praise them for anything they would quickly point it back to God and thank Him for all He has done in their life. These men are truly led by the Spirit and are completely aware of the goodness and grace of God. That drives them to humility. 2. Bold The second characteristic that these leaders exemplify is boldness. Togo is the birth place of voodoo. So the spiritual warfare is heavy to say the least. Yet, these men of God are humbly walking into witchdoctors houses and through the boldness and power of the Holy Spirit, they are seeing lives that have been gripped by satan, transformed and living for Christ. They speak the Word of God with a boldness that we seen in Paul in the book of Acts. These men are not timid with the Truth, they live it and speak it in so much boldness. 3. Confident The third and final characteristic that I noticed in these leaders is something that I think comes from a combination of the first two. These men walk with so much confidence. A confidence that only exists by the humility and boldness of the Holy Spirit. They are confident in who God is, what He has done in their lives and what He has called them to do. This confidence is seen and emanates from them when they walk in a room. It is a confidence that comes from a surrendered life completely resting in The Spirit. Humble. Bold. Confident. The DNA of a leader in the midst of a Gospel movement. Is it your DNA?
0 Comments
Humble inquiry
|
Archives
May 2020
Categories
All
|