God, I need a team!

It's three days later and I'm still recovering.

A lake house full of women serving around the country in various ministry roles. They were loved on, listened to, led through soul revealing sessions, lifted in yoga, laughed with, and lavishly adored for WHO they are, not what they do.

It was so lovely.

And I am SPENT!

Here's what feels like a confession - I'm not a shepherd. I can do it, I can lean into the Spirit's quiet work and do all the listening and loving one on one and then I can also recognize that IT SO DRAINS ME.

I can get down about it and wonder why this is so hard for me and feel like a bad person OR I can say, "wait a minute. I'm an apostle. I vision things. I start things. I create spaces. I make it happen. I invite people. I gather people. I'm a "community builder" as one woman said to me afterwards.

So the quick conclusion is that the diffuse network is onto something. We are all about the APEST for a reason. You are the apostle, the spiritual entrepreneur. So find the people you need to build out this team, this church of tomorrow, to add their gifts to the built out body of Christ -

• Who is the teacher that you need to add to the team? The one who thinks deeply about what your people are learning and hearing? The one who reminds you that this community is awesome but how are we learning about and growing closer to the heart of God?

• Name the shepherd in the community. This is the person I'm looking for on my team. They can listen and listen and listen and guide and nudge and pray and listen some more - all day long! This is the gift I have the LEAST of and the one I appreciate the most.

• Who is the evangelist that is missing from your team? I find that these people are awesome at bridging both sides of the equation - they can understand and appreciate the apostle's work while also making sure that the teachers and shepherds are utilizing their gifts. They can communicate the heart of God through story telling and make it less about the organization, more about the Spirit of the Lord.

• And who is that prophet that might ruffle feathers and who might speak truth to power and stand up for the injustice in the community? You need that person and gift as well.
  

I'm asking God to show me today who that person is and how they can get plugged in to make this team really thrive. Who will you call today?

Doing hard stuff together