Leadership Advice: Get Real

It is very easy for pastors and leaders to fall into the expectation trap: because of past experience, erroneous teaching or cultural tradition constituents might place a burden of unrealistic expectations upon their leaders. Don't buy into that!

I am not arguing for rudeness or a lack of tact and diplomacy in dealing with people, but I am suggesting that we all need to get real, and stay real.  A few years ago our local church was very involved in an annual event called "March for Jesus!" We could debate about the appropriateness and effectiveness of such mass public testimony events, but one T-Shirt from March for Jesus made a lasting impression upon me. It read, "A choir of millions for an audience of one." The message for me, for all of us, is that all we do is done for Him, and if we are subject to any performance expectations, we should keep in mind that we don't perform for our church board, membership or community; we perform for an audience of ONE.

The simplest solution I have found is just to be, as much as possible, completely yourself. Drop the pretension, lose the attitude, and refuse to play a role. Don't wear any religious masks or put on airs. Get real. Be real.