These leadership killers are all about what you love, what you hate, and what is beneath your attention. Mis-ordered affections limit influence: blind devotion is just as bad as paralyzed indifference.

The leader who has failed the PASSION TEST denies the priority of the kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and the neglects the importance of truth (Proverbs 19:2). It is impossible to take others to the right place if you haven’t found it yourself. Zeal and apathy work together to force out joy and satisfaction. This leader’s inventory is overstocked with mistakes, surprises, and shallow relationships.

A consistent simplicity can save us: What matters most? What breaks the heart of Jesus? What breaks your heart? Think about these things often. Once a month, once a week, to a degree, you can think about this every day. Here’s the hope: the more you ask these questions, the better your life will get. WE ARE ALL ON A JOURNEY. EVERYONE OF US HAS THE DIS-ABILITY TO FORGET THE IMPORTANT. We learn to love the trivial and magnify the meaningless. Retuning to these questions moves us forward and upward.

I think we need
>>STOP SIGNS, for when we’re about to go out of bounds (and love the wrong things and become indifferent to the good things)
>>STOP LIGHTS for when we need discernment
>>ON-RAMPS for when we really need to CRANK it all the way, and
>>OFF RAMPS to get back to normal life.

FOR ME>>

STOP SIGNS happen when I get surprised by a person’s response to something I do… if I joke too much, or correct too harshly… when someone responds in a way I didn’t anticipate, I bring EVERYTHING to a halt (usually that night) to see where I went wrong.

STOP LIGHTS are typically my friends…people I respect enough to ask their opinion or feelings when I’m unsure or need feedback.

I’ve got lots of ON RAMPS… but when I’m with another person, and they reveal or talk about their passion, then I shut everything else out of my mind, forget about the time, and do what ever it takes to SUBMERGE and FULLY engage what he or she is talking about. I could be on fire, but I don’t care cause I’m watching them burn.

OFF RAMP for me is time with my family. I rarely “catch up” on emails late at night (cause when am I going to catch up on family time?), or do other things that are ministry related.

What do you love? Where are you indifferent? Do you have a heart after God’s?

I want to interrupt my influence by examining my passions.

 

+mattmcgill