All right, lessons for going to be leaders. We just want to help you so much to be able to draw the leadership out of a new generation — it’s not that easy to recognize the leadership call in their lives. But when you think about it, I think about when I was just a young guy, and there’s just something, you know, when you just want to get involved, you don’t want to do something and you don’t know which way to go. And I love the story of Moses becoming a leader. In Exodus chapter 2 and verse 11, it says, “It came to pass in those days when Moses was grown.” Suddenly, Moses realized he’s a grown man, right? He grew up in the palace, right? And now he’s got this sense of urgency. Do you know your young people are feeling that? They’re feeling an urgency, they’re feeling a tug, they’re feeling something — that there’s something God has significantly called them to do.

And so, when he was fully grown, it says, “He went out to his brethren and he looked and he saw their burdens.” And this is really the key to discovering leadership in our own lives, right? And especially for our young people, is that they get to a place where they’re grown, okay? And yesterday we mentioned that it’s spiritual puberty, right? And it’s an awkward time. But it’s the most important time to set the — what would you say? The habits?

“Foundation, right? How we’re going to learn, how we’re going to relate to leaders, how we’re going to follow, how we’re going to be discipled — really, really important right in there. And if we can get that right, boy, it can really give people a leg up, you know? It can really get them started.”

“The transition that happens — like you said, he went and looked at their burdens. A lot of times it just begins with the young people noticing how things could be done differently, or we’re missing certain aspects, or there’s just kind of a sense of how come this isn’t being done better. And sometimes, especially if you are a leader that’s already been running and working hard, and then some young person comes up and it almost sounds like criticism — but it’s not. They’re like, ‘I’ve noticed that we don’t have X happening on Sunday,’ or ‘why don’t we have Y happening?’ And a lot of times we almost take that as, why are you telling me how to do my job, or why are you criticizing, or why are you finding problems? Actually, that’s part of growing up and beginning to notice things they never noticed before — the burdens of the brethren, right? And so that’s a clue for us leaders that there’s actually something in this person where they’re seeing the deficiencies, they’re seeing where there’s things that could be filled, and that means they’re in a position where they’re maybe ready to take on some responsibilities. So don’t let that be a discouragement when young people are beginning to notice things — let that be a propeller of, you know what, this person is ready to maybe be put into a position of learning to be a leader.”

“Yeah, that’s right. And then our second cue with that is that we need to step back and give them an opportunity. I think as a young, aspiring leader way back — and let’s get it right, none of us are aspiring to be leaders.” “That’s right.” “But what we’re aspiring to do is fix the burden that we see, right? And that really is a great indication as to what God has called us to do. What is it that we see that needs to be done?” “Yeah.” “And so then, as the more senior leaders, we need to learn how to step back and release that. That was a frustration for me when I knew how to do things — maybe not in the spiritual kingdom, but I knew how to do things in the natural kingdom — and the pastor wouldn’t let me do it because he thought he could do it better. Or, ‘you’re too young,’ whatever it is, you know. ‘You got long hair and a beard, man — how are you going to do anything,’ right? A smart thing for us as leaders is to recognize those cues” “and to flow with them and to go with them, because we make leaders, and there is a multitude of people in front of us with this potential on the inside to help carry burdens for the ministry and for other people, for whatever it is that God’s put on their heart.”

“It’s very rare that someone will come up to you and say, ‘I feel like I’m called to ministry.’ It does happen sometimes, where somebody feels like, ‘I feel like I’m called to leadership.’ But those aren’t the cues that they’re actually telling us, you know. And so I think a lot of times, one of the things I’m learning to do more as a leader is just assume that anybody God puts in my path is called into leadership, called into ministry, right? For example, we have someone who joined us on Seven Weeks in Asia lately, someone from Thailand — very sweet person — and he’s never said to me, ‘I want to be on the worship team, I want to be working with the worship ministry.’ Never. But just seeing that he’s available, and God put him in front of our path through Seven Weeks in Asia, now I see him where I didn’t see him before, and suddenly the onus is on me to invite him now to come and join us as we go and do these worship things up in other places in Thailand — because the gift of leadership is going to come out of him, not just because he sees a need, but because I see him, right? And I think a lot of times we’re waiting for people to walk up to us. I was having a conversation with a leader yesterday who was saying, ‘I’m a little bit tired of feeling like I’m running out of people to train, because people will come and then they’ll go.’ And I get that feeling. As leaders, there’s a lot of people that we train, and not everybody sticks — but at the same time, God gives us the eyes to keep seeing the people that are walking right by us. It’s not going to be somebody who’s ready-made — we have to make them ready.”

“That’s right. They’re not going to be ready-made. And I think that’s a big thing — a lot of pastors I’ve heard say, ‘Well, I don’t have any potential leaders in my church.’ I’m like, what are you hoping? Open your eyes, man — you’re just not looking at the right thing, right?” “That’s right.” “And then when you notice the life of Moses — I mean, okay, so he goes out and the first thing on his heart is he’s noticing the burdens that his fellow Hebrews are under.” “Mhm.” “And of course, then as things unfold, there’s all kinds of things that go awry with that. He doesn’t just become the leader.” “He did something stupid first. Killed somebody.” “Yeah, killed somebody. But you notice, even when he gets out into the wilderness, he’s still got that same burden.” “Yeah.” “And when the girls come to — what is it, one of their camels or whatever, right?” “Yeah.” “Sheep. And the other guys come and bully them or whatever, Moses rises up and he draws the water for their sheep and looks after them, because that’s just the way he is. And I think, guys, this is a cue for us — a clue for us — that we watch what it is that people keep tending to do.”

“Yeah.” “You know, and then that’s where we can engage them in serving and in the ministry. If you’ve got somebody who’s always there — you know, like I was welding this morning, and there’s a guy watching me.” “Mhm.” “You know? I’m like, ‘Are you okay?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’ And he’s just watching me, you know, for a long time. And then finally, when we’re going to come and do these podcasts, he says, ‘Can I grind that for you?’ I said, ‘Well, absolutely, you can.’ And so I notice this guy — he’s always there watching me, right? And it’s because he wants to help me with that kind of stuff.” “So they’ll watch what you’re doing in leadership, and they’ll think that’s important.” “Yeah.” “And I could do that.” “Yeah.” “And there’s where we can engage them.” “Yeah. So pay attention to the people that are just kind of hanging around you all the time, right? The guys that are sticking around, the guys that tend to volunteer, stay after the service, try to connect with the team — you know, those are the guys that are ready to be plucked, ripe for the picking. And it’s just as simple as saying, ‘Hey, are you interested in spending some time with me? I feel like there’s potential here, and God can use you in a bigger way.'”

“Yeah. So, bringing it back into who we’re talking to — we’re talking not so much to you, older generation, right?” “Yeah.” “But the guys that you’re raising up, the guys that are in front of you.” “Looking for 25 and younger, right?” “Yeah, that’s right, yeah. You young people. I was trying to figure out how to identify that generation, and I got it figured out. They all carry water bottles.” “Ah, right.” “But okay.” “Water bottles today.” “So, if you carry a water bottle, we’re talking to you. God’s calling you to do something, right? And there’s that stirring in your heart, and it’s almost like a shift from being somebody who didn’t matter so much, right? You were just like a kid in Sunday school — we were looking after you, right? But now you want to do something. You want to rise up. There’s something that you see that needs to be done. But hang on to that, because that’s God’s burden, as the Word calls it, on your life and on your heart. And that’s really going to help you understand where it is that you need to go, what you need to do, what you need to develop in your life. So don’t be afraid to start moving into that area. There’s going to be some things that happen, right?”

“It’s not going to be smooth sailing.” “That’s right. We’re going to talk about that next week. But there’s going to be some things that happen — but here’s the deal: there’s where you want to pursue. That’s what Moses pursued. Didn’t matter what happened, he pursued helping people.” “Yeah.” “That’s just what he was made for.” “You’ve got to encourage the third generation: do not wait for an invitation. Step up to the plate. Push your way through.” “Yeah.” “Make yourselves part of the team.” “Yeah. Amen.”