Back in August we had a leadership night here at River Valley Church, and ever since then I have been thinking about the leadership training that Paul passed on to Timothy.  I see three keys to this leadership training that each one of us should constantly be doing in our own lives.  I think it’s important that we are intentional about being involved in all three stages at all times.  Leadership is cyclical and never ending!

Here is the first key…

The first time we encounter Timothy is in Acts 16.  Paul meets him in Lystra and hears that people speak highly of him. That, along with knowing his mom is a believer, is apparently enough for Paul to bring him a long on his missionary journeys… and that’s how it started. A simple encounter where Paul saw some potential in a kid and decided to allow him to be a part of the team.

The first key we see in this story seems so simple; Allow people to be on your team.

This principle never changes. Your team can always grow! And how hard is to to just let someone watch you do what you do?  We haven’t even talked about letting them carry some of the load, all I am saying is take some chances.  It won’t take long until you start to see their gifts and talents and you can lead them in a specific direction, but before any of that, just let them be on the team.  After all, this is the same guy who said “Follow me as I follow Christ.”  He’s not saying “let me tell you how to be a follower of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1),” he’s simply saying “watch what I do.”  Letting people on the team doesn’t mean that you have to have a set time to impart all of your leadership wisdom into their lives on a weekly basis, it just means they get to be in close proximity to you while you do what you do.

Timothy gets a front row seat to some amazing ministry moments, he even gets to set up to pastor his own church, but before any of that could happen it had to start with an invitation.  Leaders, always remember how important your invitation is.