One of the quickest ways to loose followers is to be ambiguous about what you are doing and how your followers can get involved. Waving your hand in a northerly direction and saying “We’re heading sort of that way…” doesn’t instill confidence in your expeditionary team. Even Lewis and Clark had something specific in mind when they set out on their explorations (mapping out the Louisiana Purchase). So, how can you be specific even when you aren’t quite sure what your end destination will be?
If you are in ministry, then the Father has placed something in your heart. Usually things are vague early on, when you are still fleshing out exactly what that “something” is. Discovery is a natural part of beginning something new, so don’t be shy about it. Discovery is still a direction, and there’s no reason why you can’t be specific about being in discovery mode. Talk about the process – what you are learning, mistakes, triumphs, new stirrings.
However, while discovery is a direction, it’s still a vague direction and difficult for your followers to grab on to. Discovery is a time to be gathering followers, and if you don’t give them something specific to do, you might loose them before the cool stuff really starts happening. My suggestion is this: be purposeful as you are discovering.
Over the years I’ve found that I work best as an influencer rather than a direct leader. I didn’t know this at all when I first started in ministry with YWAM-Denver. Instead, I managed the vehicle department. I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t like it at all. Instead, I found that I naturally wanted to spend time with the DTS students. By working in the vehicle department I wasn’t a direct authority figure, so I had a different platform to speak into their lives and influence them. I only learned about being an influencer through the discovery process.
Now, at the time I was dumb and didn’t share this with much of anybody. I fumbled around in my newsletters because I had this concept that I had to have everything together. As an individual missionary still trying to figure things out, there is no way I could have had everything together. If you’re in the same place, there’s no way you can have everything together either.
Let your fledgling tribe of followers know that you are in the discovery phase, and let them know what you are testing and what you are learning. Yes, some may check out until you’re past this, but that’s OK. You’re being honest with them and they’ll respect you for it. The important thing is that you are upfront about discovering, and direct in the things you are trying.
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