I’ve written before about five ways we can walk in wisdom, but there’s a larger and more general approach leading wisely that we should act on.
Whether you’re a pastor, or lay-ministry leader, or in a different leading situation entirely, the book of Proverbs would tell us:
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.”
Proverbs 12:15
How often we miss out on opportunities to lead better and more wisely because we simply don’t take advice. Sometimes this can be advice offered from within our organization and those we lead, but it can also come from without. For church leaders and pastors specifically, I’d encourage you to learn from those outside the church.
This may seem backwards, but Jesus said that “…the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”
Although we should not adopt the values, goals, or ethics of the world, their methods tend to be generally better. There is so much we can learn from them, but so often we miss out because we are “right in our own eyes.”
I’ve seen many productivity, leadership, marketing, and many more methods of the church follow years behind what I’ve seen on secular blogs and books, and this is not the way it should be. Honestly, if you want to know the most recent marketing tactics or how to organize your church volunteers, the first place you should go is to secular industries and learn from their innovation.
I can’t stress enough that this means we learn from their methods and not their ethics, that we can learn how to act wisely in this world, but this cannot replace our call to be as innocent as doves as I’ve written about before as well. May this encourage you to learn more today and to grow in wisdom, regardless of its source.