Serve Your Way to the Top – 7 Lessons I Learned While Serving My Way onto a Church Staff

Lesson 3 – Serve/Work as Though You Were on Staff

Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. – I Peter 2:10

I remember before being on staff I set up a meeting with my youth pastor and the youth assistant at the time. They were and still are both very close friends. I told both of them, guys – I want you to treat me as if I were on staff. Give me the same responsibility, same expectations, etc. It opened the door to do some great things. I ended up doing that at ever job I’ve had. I’d meet with whoever my supervisor was and say, “I want more. Treat me as if I were at the next level.”

Some Things I learned from acting as if you were at a higher place than you currently are:

1.) Go the Extra Mile with What You Have – Whatever you are in charge of, make sure it’s getting done with excellence.

2.) Take a Load off Your Superviser - Ask them if there is anything you can take off their plate. What can you do to bless them? What can you do that nobody else would want to?

3.) Make Everyone Else Look Awesome - Make your team better! Compliment them in front of others. Sharpen them! Encourage them to dream bigger. Come along side them on a project and help them through it!

4.) Make Sure the Job Gets Done - Bottom line any leader is looking for is someone who gets the job done. Make sure you’re being labeled as someone who gets the job done, no matter what!

Act as if you were at the next level, act as if you’re good enough to go to the next level, act as if you’re the most faithful person on the planet – because with that attitude you will be all of the above and watch the doors of opportunity swing open for you.

¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. -I Thess 1:11

So last week I got to go to Jeanne Mayo’s house for our 2nd Cadre Advance. It was an incredible time! I’d like to share a few things I took away from the experience.

It’s Ok to Not be Ok – One night we broke into our iron groups and shared our deepest hurts, fears, and secrets. It was definitely a bond breaking moment as well as a moment that brought the people in our groups together as a family. We then prayed for and encouraged one another. How great would it be if we did this in our homes with our closest friends? Who are you being real with? Praying for? Encouraging?

The Thing about Leaders is They are Just Like You - It is an amazing privilege and honor to be mentored by Jeanne Mayo. I love how honest, transparent, and vulnerable she makes herself in order to invest in leaders. Jeanne really helped me realize that no matter how much influence someone has or how big their name is, they have to go through life just like anyone else, they experience problems, become lonely, have struggles, etc. Once we recognize this we can take our eyes off the leader and focus them on God. This enables us to be there for the leaders, add even more value to their vision, pray for them, and encourage them.

Character is Everything - we hear it over and over again, but character is absolutely essential to accomplish and sustain what God has called us to do. Talent is able to get you to the top, but character is what keeps you there.

Excellence Matters – One thing I see at every successful church, business, family, etc. is that they do everything with excellence. Jeanne is a master at this! Literally every second we were down there was intentional and done with excellence. The outcome? A life changing experience that nobody will ever forget. Excellence will get people saved, change peoples lives, and keep people coming back. What experiences are we creating for people with our commitment to or lack of excellence?

Tokens Are the Best – Jeanne is the queen of giving tokens away. By tokens I mean items that are given to the audience to symbolize and represent a main point of a message. I.e. a paintbrush when the speaker talked about life being a painting and we’re the artists that paint the strokes. I think I have 4 or 5 tokens from Jeanne’s, and because of them, I’ll never forget the lessons she taught. I actually took home something tangible. Do you use tokens in your sermons? Camps? Retreats?

There are so many more lessons I learned on the trip… perhaps I’ll share some more tomorrow!

If you’re a youth pastor – you should seriously consider applying for The Cadre!