Christian Leadership Foundations 4 - CropSample

THE IMPORTANCE OF A CROP

Leadership Devotion

It’s interesting how language changes. The term “talent” was originally a unit of weight (about 26 kg). Then it became a unit of money. That’s how Jesus used the term in this parable. A talent was a lot of money. If a talent was about 6,000 denarii (there is some doubt) and a denarius was the payment for a day’s work, then today, a talent would be worth around $600,000.Whatever the exact worth of a talent, you can see the servants in Jesus’ story were given large amounts of money to invest. Even the one-talent guy.

These days we use the term “talent” to describe special personal abilities. This use has developed directly from Jesus’ story. Over many years, English Bible readers came to interpret the money given to the servants as special abilities God gave each person. That’s not a flawed understanding, although Jesus’ idea of “talent” is probably broader than this. It would also include other resources God has given his servants, including our possessions, gifts, opportunities, background, and personality.

The parable makes clear that God does not distribute his resources evenly. He gives some of his servants more than others. More gifts. More resources. More opportunities. Clearly, some Christians have more gifts, skills, and resources than others. It’s not how many “talents” God gives us that matters. That’s up to God. It’s what we do with them. Of course, the more we have, the more God expects of us.

I love how the first two servants (who were resourced differently and therefore earned very different amounts) were given the same commendation from the master (25:21, 23). They were both faithful with their resources, and the master was equally pleased. The master was looking for good stewardship – results in keeping with the servants’ resources. The problem with the ineffective servant was his laziness and unwillingness to use his talent.

God expects us to be faithful as stewards of His resources, but faithfulness doesn’t just mean living God’s way. It also necessarily involves investing our “talents” and producing results proportional to the assets and opportunities God has given us. I am calling this “producing a CROP.” Faithfulness to God will necessarily involve the wise investment of the “talents” God gives us, evidenced by the spiritual crop that follows.

Some Christian leaders would describe themselves as faithful to God (godly heart), but they are not bearing enough crop. They may not be using their gifts well or working hard enough or making good decisions, or praying consistently, and, therefore, they are not producing the crop God expects from the resources he has invested in them. It’s God’s responsibility to produce the crop, but we have a significant contribution to make. We must learn and grow as good farmers (1 Cor. 3:9) to do our very best. We need to be skillful gardeners for God to produce a great crop through us (John 15:5). We don’t want to waste God’s investment in us.

To Contemplate

Name some of the resources God has given you to invest in his kingdom. What crop have you seen recently?

Leadership Reflection

Reaping a good crop doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a huge challenge and requires a great deal of discipline, intentionality, and hard work.

In 2 Pet. 1:3-11, Peter argues that while God provides the power for us to live his way, we have an important role in developing qualities that add to our faith and keep us from “being ineffective and unproductive” (2 Pet. 1:8). One of these key qualities is self-control, but you will notice that intentionality (“make every effort”) lies behind the development of all these qualities.

Numerous personal disciplines boost self-control and intentionality in Christian leaders, leading to a good crop. Here are three.

1. Take responsibility for your choices and behavior. Intentionality starts with taking responsibility. Suppose you see your life as being controlled by external circumstances like people, situations, opportunities, experiences, or even your personality. In that case, you’ll always have good reasons to blame someone or something else for your lack of a crop, just like the poor steward who buried his talent and tried to blame his master for his failure (Matt. 25:24-25).

Ultimately, our behavior results from our decisions, not our conditions. Our choices determine how we live and what we achieve. Until we are willing to take responsibility for our lives, the work we are doing, and how we do this work, we will never be able to manage our lives effectively. Sure, God is responsible for the final result. God runs the show, but we are accountable to play our part well, so there is no room for excuses.

2. Intentionally pursue your mission. A previous generation of leaders often pursued their mission by designing precise personal goals and strategies. If you use such methods systematically, they certainly aid the intentional achievement of your mission.

New generation leaders are generally less comfortable with this approach because they prefer a compass to a map. I have a lot of sympathy for this perspective. I doubt Jesus operated with a detailed strategic plan. He seemed to be very flexible in his approach to his mission, but Jesus was strongly intentional, and when called by God, he deliberately pursued specific directions.

You don’t need an elaborate plan to achieve your mission, but you must be heading in a clear direction. The best way to do this is to have some form of accountability. Who is checking whether you are pursuing God’s mission? Be flexible if you want, but make sure you are intentional.

3. Use your time well. Even if you choose to live with a lot of freedom and flexibility, you need to work out how to manage your greatest resource – your time. Everyone develops their methods and priorities in managing time, but here are some basics.

Have a method of writing things down and organizing your life. I use a diary and a daily “to do” list. Some people have much more sophisticated methods. Phone/tablet apps offer many options, and computer programs can also assist. Try to sync everything together if you can. If you don’t have a method for organizing your life, you need to develop one immediately.

Make sure you build in time for very important activities but not urgent ones. The pace and pressures of life mean we can spend a lot of time dealing with the urgent. You must intentionally build time for renewing activities like exercising, time with friends, time with God, reading, holidays, coffee shops, recreation, and even partying. You also need time for planning, tidying up, thinking, listening, praying, and retreating. These activities are needed to vitalize and empower your leadership, so they are essential even though they may never seem urgent.