One of the Highest Callings

You didn't break it, but you have to fix it: Defining a ReLeader

Called to Fix Broke Stuff

About two years ago, a friend asked me if would consider starting a roundtable group with him to train pastors in church planting and church growth.

My friend was also a pastor, and I replied with transparency. I told him I wasn’t the guy for that.

“I don’t know how to plant churches,” I remember saying. “I’m not really passionate about growing big churches. I’m more passionate about growing big people.”

We knew each other well, but he gave me a funny look.

“Well then, what is it that God has called you to do?” he asked.

I was about to realize that I had an idea in me that had been lying dormant. It was bubbling below the surface, just waiting for the right prompt.

This was my Mount Vesuvius. My personal volcano was about to erupt. The words came bubbling out.

I blurted out, “I’m called to fix broke stuff.”

That was it.

That was my calling. My purpose.

I am a ReLeader.

A Career in Repair

My entire adult career flashed before my eyes. From my first job out of college in sales to my time as a Vice President of a university…then to my role as Lead Pastor of a church in Oklahoma City…and then to another leadership position in higher education, as President of The King’s University.

It became clear to me, over and over again, that God had called me to “fix what I did not break.” Like me, you might be someone who sees that transition through a spiritual lens—I’m a pastor, of course—or maybe your efforts have all taken place in the secular world. But if you’re here, you probably identify with my career path.

For me, these weren’t just jobs. They were even more than ministry callings. They were opportunities to restore, repair and renovate. Each seemed to be uniquely matched with my expertise and God-given gifts as a ReLeader—someone who emerged to mend something others couldn’t.

If you’re reading this, chances are that you, too, are a ReLeader.

Perhaps you’re being given language to describe something you’ve felt for a long time. It may be that in a leadership culture that highlights launching, building, and growing, you’ve struggled to name your calling or identify your tribe.

Because you didn’t launch your organization. You didn’t start the department you lead. You didn’t build the foundation or create the idea.

No, you were placed there. You followed someone else—someone who was in that position before you. You have an office in a building you did not build, oversee a staff you did not hire, and rely on systems you did not establish.

You’re no leader. You’re actually something far more important than a leader.

You’re a ReLeader.

When Things Come Crashing Down

God called me into ministry kicking and screaming. That’s another story, but in 2011, I left a career in higher education to serve as a campus pastor of a great church in the Oklahoma City area. I wasn’t in charge. I was one of several campus pastors of a 20-year-old, multi-site church.

Then, in 2014, my life got flipped-turned-upside-down (with apologies to the Fresh Prince). That’s when the founding Lead Pastor of our multi-site church had a moral failure. AS you might expect, it slammed the brakes on our church’s growth, energy and reputation. Church members were devastated.

The founding pastor was—and still is—a great man. But he was a man who made a very public mistake, and it caused massive trauma. It dealt a major blow to the church God had built.

Initially, I thought it was all about to come crashing down and my days of ministry were over. “Back to higher education for me,” I thought. But God had other plans.

The church asked me to take an interim role as the Lead Pastor. Then, on November 2, 2014, they named me the Lead Pastor for good. I was just 35 years old at the time. I had three years—literally, 36 months—of ministry experience. To say I was in over my head was an understatement.

Lead pastor? I had only preached a handful of times, and now I would be standing behind the pulpit nearly every weekend. Until then, the largest team I’d ever led was five people.

I inherited a staff of over fifty people. And morale wasn’t great.

Shrinking and Hurting

Trying to step into that level of leadership was difficult enough for me personally, but that wasn’t the half of it. I had some very public challenges staring me in the face:

• The church congregation was already shrinking.

• A shrinking congregation meant a decline in tithes and offerings. Church budgets are built on expected giving, and this moment was NOT expected.

This wasn’t just a financial blow, however. It was an emotional and spiritual one:

• The congregation was hurting. They had lost their shepherd. They had lost their trust in the Church. Some even lost their faith altogether.

• The staff was hurting too. They had been traumatized by losing their leader and pastor.

There I was, standing in the middle of the rubble, surrounded by pain and loss, trying to figure out how to fix what I didn’t break and rebuild what had fallen apart.

I didn’t have a name for it at that time, but even then, I knew I wasn’t being asked to lead, I was being asked to ReLead.

A High Calling

If you’re still reading this, I’ll bet you anything you’re a ReLeader too. Let me be the first to tell you: This is a high calling! ReLeaders are essential in every aspect of life—business, marriage, parenting, ministry, personal growth, and health.

It is a high calling because few are willing to do it. It’s not flashy. It’s not celebrated. ReLeaders rarely speak at conferences or get invited to be on podcasts or get offered book deals, because our stories are complicated. Success isn’t easily visible. It takes time. It takes grime. You can’t condense what we do to a simple maxim.

Instead, we are laying a foundation for things to come. As a ReLeader, you may plant seeds and build foundations and never actually see the finished product. But without the ReLeader, there is no fruit and there is no finished structure. There is only rubble.

You are called to revive what is dead, rebuild what is destroyed, and recover what has been lost. The real character test of a ReLeader is this:

• Are you willing to plant a tree if you’ll never sit under its shade?

• Are you willing to plant a garden if you’ll never enjoy its produce?

• Are you willing to start building a house that you may never sleep in?

Our culture loves to see things completed. We celebrate pastors and CEOs and creators who build great things from start to finish. Our world rejoices to see the work done.

But some of us are called to different roles, and as a pastor, I’m here to tell you that God sees these roles differently. It reminds me of the story of Zerubbabel and Jeshua in the Old Testament book of Zechariah. You probably haven’t heard of them. They aren’t the kinds of biblical figures who get much attention.

They were significant, though. They were called to return from exile with the people of Israel and rebuild the temple after its destruction. They were ReLeaders.

The Lord spoke to us in calling them, and the words used in Zechariah can inspire us today:

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”—Zechariah 4:10

Did you see it? God rejoices in:

• The thing you’re doing that is still just beginning.

• The thing you’re doing that is “just foundation work.”

• The thing no one else can see. (And if they could see it, they wouldn’t care.)

God is jumping up and down, rejoicing over your small beginning, which may seem insignificant to you. But why would we despise what God is rejoicing over? Let’s not call insignificant what God calls significant.

The Details Others Miss

When Michele and I first got married, I became a professional do-it-yourselfer at home. I learned how to lay tile and hardwood floors, texture walls, do trim work, and perform minor electrical and plumbing jobs. There wasn’t a project I wouldn’t tackle. I enjoyed the work, and the DIY mindset created in me an appreciation for small details.

For instance, if you ever invite me to your house, I tend to notice the minutiae other people would overlook. Wow, that was a really difficult tile cut! Look at the height of that ceiling. Someone had to get up there and texture that wall!

I believe this is the heart of our heavenly Father. He is walking through your heart and your organization, admiring the small details of your leadership. The crowds probably won’t see it, but God is rejoicing to see this small work begin. He rejoices because he knows the faithfulness it took and because he sees the big finish.

So don’t get distracted or discouraged. Find courage in knowing that God is for you, has assigned you, and is thrilled to see you begin this work of ReLeading.

Biblically speaking, we ReLeaders are in good company. Joshua was a ReLeader after Moses. Elisha was a ReLeader after Elijah. Zerubbabel and Jeshua were ReLeaders after centuries of exile. Nehemiah was a ReLeader who was called to rebuild the wall.

In many ways, Jesus Himself was a ReLeader when He came into this world to pick up the pieces of something He did not break. He put it all back together.

If this describes you, welcome to the tribe. No one talks about the tribe of ReLeaders, but I think we are among the most important and impactful renovators, restorers, and repair workers operating in our world today.

We’re not leaders at all. We’re something far more important. We are ReLeaders.