“Love your family, not (fill in the blank)”

When I heard Andy Stanley say that his greatest leadership decision was to realize that God has called him to love his family and not the church, it was both uncomfortable and freeing. For so long I’ve watched pastors and peers in ministry say they keep their marriage is their first priority, but do things like ignore their wives phone calls or say they keep their family #1 and cheat on family time for ministry time.

I knew that something was wrong with that picture, but I didn’t see a model of anything otherwise. So what did I do? I followed it. I followed it all the way to the point hurting me and my family. I was so busy building God’s church that I wasn’t doing a good job building and leading my family. That was until I was challenged by a mentor to find out what God’s priorities for my life are. That’s how my wife and I came up with this.

Then I came to Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church.

I witnessed a Senior pastor who – no matter who he was talking to – would stop the conversation if his wife was calling and gave me the permission to do the same! I was loved by an elder board who were constantly checking to see if my family and I were doing well. I had an executive pastor who was always challenging me to watch my hours and not to forget to keep the priority of my family. He would actually ask me on a regular basis, “How is your wife feeling?”

Then my senior pastor gave me a DVD with Andy Stanley talking about his greatest leadership decision and Wayne Cordeiro speaking on the topic of living leadership out of spiritual, emotional, and physical health – to not be a “Dead Leader Running.”

Andy Stanley made a statement that basically said that God asked him to love his wife, not the church. He said that when he realized that it was his job to love his family and that God would build the church, it was freeing to him.

I think this is true for anyone – even if you aren’t working in ministry. I think that too often we get caught up in our careers that we forget that our #1 job is being a husband/father or being a mother/wife.

What if it is true?

What if concentrating on loving and leading your family would be the key to having success in your workplace?

What if loving and leading your family is the real solution to finding the joy you’re looking for in your career?

What if loving and leading your family is the thing that God is waiting for you to do, so HE can be the God supplies your needs?

What if?