As a college pastor, I get the honor and privilege of working with young leaders on a daily basis. I am always being challenged when I am around young college age leaders because of their passion, drive, and urgency. Young leaders are some of the most passionate people, I believe in part because they have a fresh and willing heart. They exemplify drive in ministry, because they will do anything at anytime to accomplish what they are passionate about. And they have a sense of urgency, especially when it comes to sharing the story of the Gospel. I love young leaders!
One of the things that I have to remind the majority of young leaders is that they will have to say “no” to some opportunities that come their way.. Because of their drive, their passion, and their urgency, they fall prey to the idea that if they don’t say “yes” and plug in to every opportunity that comes their way, they will miss out. This is just not true. I believe that there are a few reasons leaders (young and old) don’t say “no”:
- Pride-you want to feel wanted and needed, and it is an ego booster to feel wanted in a lot of areas. Saying no could mean (in your mind) that you can’t do something. And your pride convinces you that you actually can do everything put in front of you.
- Opportunity-you feel like saying no could mean you miss out on an opportunity to lead. You feel like if you say no, you might lose the opportunity to lead in the future.
- Capacity-you feel like it’s no big deal to take on one more opportunity.
But, saying no isn’t always a bad thing. I believe that saying “no” can actually be the best thing for you, for ministry that you are a part of, and for the Gospel. Here’s why:
- Focus-Saying “no” to one opportunity means that you can better focus on what you are saying “yes” to. Whenever I speak and teach, I spend a lot of time studying, researching, reading, and preparing for the message. When all of my prep is done, I have so many random and scattered ideas. My task then becomes saying “yes” to one main idea, and “no” to other ideas (even good ones). When you can focus your time on one or two things, you are more likely to do that one or those two things with excellence
- Excellence-You can’t be involved in 28 things with everything that you are, working with excellence through the process. Saying “no” allows you to do things with excellence.
- God’s call-God hasn’t called you to meet every person’s needs. You can’t possibly be everywhere at all times. There are only 24 hours in a day. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” (1 Corinthians 7:17)
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:27-30)
Here’s the deal. You can’t do it all! So quit trying. Figure out where God has gifted you, where he has placed you in life and lead there. Lead from your God given strengths. Lead from your passions, and lead with excellence.
How do you gauge when to say “no”?
How have you struggled because you didn’t say “no”?
