How to know you are NOT leading

Monday Morning Insight - MMI (a blog for pastors) had an exert from Jon Ferguson's blog. Jon is pastor of Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL.

Jon writes, "Ever catch yourself not leading? Of course you have. When I find myself not leading the way I believe God has called me to lead, I ask myself, "What does it look like for me to really be a leader in this situation? Maybe this will help you know when you are slipping a little bit. You know you are not leading when...

--You wait for someone to tell you what to do rather than taking the initiative yourself

--You spend too much time talking about how things should be different

--You blame the context, surroundings, or other people for your current situation

--You choose not to speak the truth in love

--You are more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing

--You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future

--You aren’t taking any significant risks

What was interesting to me was the comments section on MMI. Everyone was in agreement with the whole list. While I find the list challenging - I also find it a little scary. "Don't blame your context." Okay. This makes sense except that sometimes the context might really be the problem. It's like the old line... "You aren't paranoid if people really ARE out to get you."

Also the implication is seeking consensus is weak. Maybe sometimes, but other times seeking consensus is the spiritually mature thing to do. In fact, many times I think God guides us through discussion, argument and struggle in church to arrive at a Holy Spirit inspired consensus. Refusing to consider consensus out of principle strikes me as arrogant.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I just woke up cranky this morning.