Ragamuffin Leadership

I was an RA at Anderson University, and I remember the chance to revisit the campus I worked.  Upon the visit, I was able to hang out with the ragamuffins who lived on my floor.  What a great time of fellowship!  I have often said that fellowship is when the mighty descend and the lowly rise, but I also think fellowship happens when the lowly congregate. Anyway, it was wonderful to be with the men I lived close to for a year and see where their lives were then and now.  My mind went back to a conversation I had with a friend of mine on campus.  She said, "Ya know!  They say the floor almost always becomes reflections of their RA."  I thought to myself, "Oh no!  That cannot happen.  Nobody wants that.  One P.C. is bad and crazy enough."  Then I went back to visit them and realized how true that is of ANY LEADER on ANY LEVEL.  If you are like me, you realize how ridiculously humbling it can be.

I went back to find freshmen and sophomores then sophomores and juniors who were IN LOVE WITH THE GOSPEL.  I went back to see the craziest guys on campus then...still crazy...but almost each and every one of them filling some sort of leadership role.  I saw several of them in raw honest accountability groups [ash trays included].  I saw a group of guys who pursued God with all their hearts.  I got to see a group of guys in love with Jesus at the very core of their being but who are looked down upon as the "unorthodox" group.

My last day there, one of the guys came up to me before I left for the airport and said, "PC, I just went to an interview for [a large Christian summer camp], and the guy asked me, 'Who is one leader in your life you have respected the most and why,' and I said, 'PC Walker, my RA last year."  He said it was because I lead in a way that built a relationship he respected, and then it was as though I stepped back to watch them grow.

I had no idea.  I was just getting close to my guys and letting them get close to me...the real me.

No matter what level of leadership you are in...even if you do not think you are a leader (you ARE), WE ALL PASS A BIT OF OURSELVES ONTO OTHERS.  That is the great inevitability of relationships.  We all have INFLUENCE to give and receive, to pass on and take on.  Its as easy as creating relationships.

Freedom in Failure

I met with one of my RAs, and he said, "I have felt a lot lately like I have been letting everyone down."

I asked him how it was he thought or felt like he was letting me down.  He said he just felt like he was failing at stuff.

"Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, I think!"

"Now THAT would let me down, " I said.

I continued to let my RA know he has not let me down, and the reason is because I expect him to fail.  He will make plenty of mistakes and poor choices as an RA, and I expect him to do so.  I told him that by knowing this, he will now be a better RA.

My walk with Christ soared once I realized God expected me to fail.  Why?  Because him expecting me to fail means he does NOT expect me to be perfect.  Now THAT is good news.

There is freedom in knowing God expects me to fail and loves me despite my mistakes and trips. There is freedom because now I can take more risks.  I can go after my faith without abandon or fear.  I no longer have to maintain the perfect Christian facade.  I can now dive into my faith head first.

"But you still make mistakes!"

Yes, I certainly will, and those mistakes will go challenged.  Each poor choice, mistake and failure will come with its fair share of conviction and consequence. There will be these mistakes that come along, but God expects those and loves me despite them.

Brennan Manning writes, "God expects more failure out of you than you do."

Today, I have realized how freeing that really is.  So my RA could face confrontation when it happens knowing I expect him to fail from time to time and learn from them instead of obsessively side-stepping them. He can go all out and be willing to take risks that some choices may go wrong, but that's okay.  He does not have to be perfect or the best RA ever.  I don't expect him to be.

I told him, "You won't let me down by failing.  The only way you will let me down is if you give up."

I believe God expects more failure out of us than we do.  So we don't let God down when we fail, make mistakes or ask questions.  I think we let God down when we just give up, because when we give up we aren't even willing to fail.

Where's the faith and trust and risk in that?