I was listening to a podcast today from Catalyst, doing an interview with Rick Warren. I don't care what anyone says about him, yes he is not perfect, but dang, that guy has some great ideas and sayings.
He said, "You cannot win your enemies to Christ. You can only win your friends." He was responding to a question posed to him about all the political and religious leaders he has befriended. That is awesome.
Talking about wisdom, he said, "It's wise to learn from your experiences. But it's wiser to learn from others experiences." He was talking about learning from mentors and coaches.
He also gave four areas every leader/pastor needs for relationships:
Mentors - have many mentors in many different areas of expertise. One mentor cannot possibly know everything. These are your coaches.
Models - have models that are dead, i.e. Spurgeon, Wesley, Luther; because if you have someone you are modeling your life after that is still alive, they might burn out, flame out or have a moral failure before their life is over. Go with those who have proven themselves.
Partners - these are people who are our co-workers, buddies, people we are in business with.
Friends - people who just love us.
Rick said if you have these kinds of people in ministry than your chances of staying in ministry for the long haul dramatically improve. That guy has a lot of wisdom.
He said, "You cannot win your enemies to Christ. You can only win your friends." He was responding to a question posed to him about all the political and religious leaders he has befriended. That is awesome.
Talking about wisdom, he said, "It's wise to learn from your experiences. But it's wiser to learn from others experiences." He was talking about learning from mentors and coaches.
He also gave four areas every leader/pastor needs for relationships:
Mentors - have many mentors in many different areas of expertise. One mentor cannot possibly know everything. These are your coaches.
Models - have models that are dead, i.e. Spurgeon, Wesley, Luther; because if you have someone you are modeling your life after that is still alive, they might burn out, flame out or have a moral failure before their life is over. Go with those who have proven themselves.
Partners - these are people who are our co-workers, buddies, people we are in business with.
Friends - people who just love us.
Rick said if you have these kinds of people in ministry than your chances of staying in ministry for the long haul dramatically improve. That guy has a lot of wisdom.
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