There’s an interesting paradox to ministry and leadership.
In order to lead, you must know where you’re going, have something to say, and stay focused for the long haul.
Yet the more you lead, the more you’re emptied. The leadership train doesn’t slow down.
It can be exhausting.
How does one stay refreshed, focused, and in a prime state to lead? You must close the door.
Consider this:
You can’t lead worship if you don’t catch a vision of God behind closed doors.
You can’t lead a team if you don’t hear from God behind closed doors.
You won’t have a God-honoring public ministry without thriving, private devotion.
Your leadership will rise and fall on your dedication to closing the door.
Why We Avoid the Closed Door
The problem is, we tend to avoid it.
1. We are too busy – This is a paradox, really. If we’re too busy to close the door, we’re not being productive. The most productive appointment on your calendar is your alone time with Jesus (tweetable).
2. We avoid facing reality – The stillness of being alone with God forces us to face our junk – pride, selfish ambition, vain conceit (Philippians 2:3). Scary.
3. We’re addicted to praise – Public praise is immediately gratifying. We are appreciated in public – seen, heard, and made much of. When we’re alone, we don’t get that. Our greatest challenge is to prize the love of God in secret more than the praise of man in public (tweetable).
In order to be a great leader, you must close the door. But to be a great leader demands you open it as well.
If you close the door and rarely open it, you’re not making disciples, communicating enough, and leading people well.
If you open the door too much and rarely close it, you’re leading on empty, addicted to the rush of busyness and accomplishment.
What is Your Closed Door Strategy?
Here’s the deal. You need a closed door strategy.
Currently, this is what I’m trying to do (an adaptation from Rick Warren):
Every year, close your door for a week.
Every month, close your door for two days.
Every week, close your door for one day.
Every day, schedule time to open and close your door.
I know it feels good to be “in demand”, to be needed. But if you’re not hearing from God, keeping your heart fresh, knowing what the next step is, your leadership will suffer.
Today – just today – close the door and see what happens.
But before you close the door, I want to hear from you in the comments.
The best part of this blog is your contribution. You have insight that needs to be heard.
What is your closed door strategy? How are you creating a habit of hearing from God? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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As Mark 3:14 says, Jesus calls us to be with Him first, doing things for Him is secondary.
Silent personal time with God is kinda underrated of late – its probably the lifeline to strengthen and maintain our personal walk with the Lord.
Scripture reading / meditation, silent listening are some of the practices that work for me.
I ran a series on silent prayer some time ago at my blog in case u want to check it out: http://goo.gl/bGgXi
Great post. This closed door strategy is new to me. Gonna try it. As far my habit of hearing from God, I have daily routine in the Word, Daily Audio Bible and prayer, study – that’s about a couple of hours.
What audio Bible do you use? I’ve been wanting to give that a try, actually.
Download the Daily Audio Bible app, read by Brian Hardin, there’s quite a community around it. http://dailyaudiobible.com/
Perfect. Thanks.
Yes and amen! Behind a closed door, hidden in a place of prayer and fellowship with the Lord is the only place I want to be. When I answer God’s call to meet with Him, boy oh boy, all the creative inspiration I crave just flows and the burden to have to come up with inventive, inspirational material just “comes”. Because of just a dry season in my life, several months ago, I signed up for several daily bible devotions from Tozer, Spurgeon, Sproul and some guy named Santistevan — never heard of him before — LOL! What a difference this has made in keeping me consistent in the Word and prayer. I also find myself more inspired and excited to minister each week to my team and to the congregation. Feel much more prepared to handle adversity and opposition — no matter the source. In His presence, there’s VICTORY!
Wow, Alice. Honored to be mentioned among such great men of God! Thanks for reading and sharing your heart on the blog.
So true David. I like how you put this. Your post re-confirms for me something that I heard a week ago: We don’t burn out by over working, we burn out by under connecting (to God). I just read this morning in Hebrews 4 : “strive for rest”…. my head and heart have been spinning with these two things 🙂
Ah, I love the “rest” that Hebrews talks about. Oh how I need to understand that more!
This was a great article!