Leadership Lessons from Jonah

All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
Jonah 1:5

I love to scuba dive! There’s just nothing in the world like experiencing life underwater for 45+ minutes during a dive. In fact, in makes the story of Jonah come alive.

As I was reading the book of Jonah this week, verse 5 of first chapter reminded me a great leadership principle – That our decisions not only affect us but they affect everyone around us.

Jonah was trying to run from God so he boards a ship toward modern day Spain then falls into a deep sleep totally unaware of the violent storm and danger he had put the passengers and crew in.

I’ve heard people say, “My decisions are my decisions… I can do what I want to do… it doesn’t affect anyone else.”

The reality is our decisions not only cost us, they cost everyone around us.

Think about it –
▪ we’re still affected today by the decisions of Adam and Eve…
▪ there are families that suffer every day because a drunk driver killed someone they loved…
▪ a story in the news of someone who spent years in prison for a crime that did not commit because someone lied in court…
So what about us as pastors and IC leaders? How are the leadership decisions we making each day impacting those we serve? How do they impact the lost in our city? How do they impact your family?

I encourage you to take some time to think about it. Talk with your leadership and encourage them to see the far reaching impact of the decisions we make today.

Praying for you and your team this weekend!

Larry