the    sides

These are my notes from Andy Stanley’s 1st Session at Catalyst.  This session may end up having a more profound effect on us (Grace Church) than we could ever imagine.

Your leadership ability has the potential to take you further than your character can sustain you.

Leaders get into trouble when their integrity doesn’t keep pace with the momentum created by their giftedness.  (There is no correlation between giftedness and maturity.)

Our commitment to integrity can be easily eroded by our love of progress.  

The excuses we are most tempted to use are:
     God promised it.
     I deserve it.

David’s Opportunity: 1 Samuel 24:1-4a

This had all the makings of a ‘God thing.’  God had promised David to be King.  David deserved to be King.  Saul was a jerkweed.  There is not one circumstance that could be added to this story to make it any more of a “God Story.â€?

When opportunities line up with our prayers and our passions, it is difficult to exercise restraint.  

Opportunities must be weighed against something other than the uniqueness of the circumstances surrounding them.  Emotional environments are like fog.  An open door is NOT necessarily an invitation.  

David’s Response:     
David weighed his opportunity against 3 things.

1. The Law of God – Thou shall not kill (especially the King)




2. The Principles of God – Saul was God’s anointed, placed in authority over him




3. The Wisdom of God – every king who takes the throne via assassination gets assassinated, story of killing King in cave, disrobed had no honor in it.  Do not replace what God has put in place.  He was not going to compromise his mission for the sake of a shortcut.

1 Samuel 24:4b-12

Everything that looks like a God thing and feels like a God thing and is suggested by others as a God thing isn’t necessarily a God thing.  

The most direct route to what you want is rarely the BEST route.  

Application
Weigh every opportunity against the law, principles, and wisdom of God.
Decide every day that you will not sacrifice integrity for progress.
Give the right people an all access pass to EVERY major leadership decision.

Being the leader does not exempt you from the need of wise counsel.  It necessitates it.

We are only one decision away from sacrificing our integrity…
     Which leads to a loss of credibility
     Which undermines our influence.

We never accomplish the will of God by violating the law of God, ignoring the principles of God, or refusing the wisdom of God.