Connecting the Dots

Are there any similarities in effectively leading a group of adult peers and middle school students? Seems like a rather strange question, doesn't it? But its one I'm trying to answer today -- to at least some degree. As a person with one foot in both worlds, I'd like to be able to point to experts, and say, "I'll learn from them! This is how you do it."

Director of Middle School Strategy at Orange, Ashley Bohinc, is one of my favorite follows on Twitter currently. (Follow her @AshleyBohinc.) She's been a middle school pastor for nearly 15 years and recently tweeted a concept I've been marinating on for a few days -- and it's this: middle schoolers open up when you lean into relational authority, not positional authority.

While our immediate thought might be, "That's great for working with middle school kids -- or as a parent -- but what's that got to do with adults or being an effective leader in the professional world?"

I don't think that's a concept just for junior high ministry at all! Yes, sometimes we do have to exercise positional authority as parents, or in our careers. But how effective can we be when that is our primary or sole leadership or teaching style? Will we ever really get to the heart of communication issues and understanding those around us? Will we ever be able to create a larger impact?

If your heart is to be a teacher and leader, the goal should be broader than compliance. It should be to see wholistic development in the people around you. Middle school students will comply with positional authority, but they can become disciples via relational authority. Our colleagues and peers will comply as subordinates, but they can become much more with servant leadership.

Its been interesting over the course of the last few weeks to immerse myself in ministry and sort out the challenge of keeping up a professional edge. I was deeply encouraged and incredibly thankful for the work God did in the lives of the students at CIY: MiX. I did a lot of listening and some learning over the course of that week. I didn't have to do any "teaching," as the professionals took care of that. (But I know that's what I want to do -- or, should I say, continue doing!

Whether it's training colleagues, managing my scheduling work, pursuing my next adjunct assignment, or leading a group lesson with middle school students, there is teaching and leadership knowledge to be gained from all of these types of experiences. Sometimes it just takes a little help (from experts) to connect the dots and make sense of how (or if) any of it translates from one to the other.