Stumble Your Way to Spiritual Leadership

Posted on Jul 22, 2019 Topic : Men's Christian Living
Posted by : Jerrad Lopes

Our family has been trying to get into a rhythm of practicing Sabbath on Saturdays. We usually start this rest-filled day by cooking a giant batch of pancakes and enjoying a long breakfast together.

A few weeks ago, we slowly rolled out of bed and began our normal Sabbath routine. We cooked an obnoxious number of pancakes and all sat down, prepared to eat. Then we realized something terrible had happened...

We had run out of syrup.

Nothing is worse than trying to eat pancakes without syrup. It’s like trying to eat cereal without milk. Or pizza without ranch dressing. It’s just not the way God intended things to be.

Fortunately, we live about thirty-five seconds away from Target, so Leila volunteered to quickly run to the store to rescue us from our breakfast catastrophe.

Five minutes went by. And then ten. And then thirty.

The pancakes turned cold, and the kids were beyond restless. I decided to call Leila to see what was going on.

“Hey, babe, everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been standing in the syrup aisle trying to decide which one is best for our kids. There are so many options...I don’t want to pick the wrong one!”

“Um, babe. Just grab one. Any one. We’re starving over here.”

My wife suffers from what I call “analysis paralysis.” If she is presented with too many options, she freezes and can’t seem to decide. She’s convinced that if she doesn’t know every thing about everything, she may end up making the wrong decision, even about something as trivial as pancake syrup.

When it comes to being the spiritual leader of their homes, a lot of guys also suffer from analysis paralysis. The options of what they should be doing can feel overwhelming and cause them to freeze. Instead of stumbling their way forward, they don’t do anything at all.

What devotional do I choose? What podcasts should I listen to? Do I even know the Bible well enough to teach my kids? What if they can tell I don’t really know what I’m talking about? What’s the right way to pray with my kids? And the list goes on...

Many guys think that if they move too quickly, without first analyzing all the options, they will make a mistake. And here’s the truth— they probably will. And that’s okay.

Leila could have spent years in that syrup aisle, gathering all the information she could, and still have picked the “wrong one.” But we didn’t need the perfect syrup. We simply needed something to pour over our pancakes while we enjoyed breakfast together as a family.

Despite your best efforts and all your research, there will always be more to learn. Studying God’s Word doesn’t lead to all the answers; usually it brings up more questions.

Here’s one thing I’ve learned from watching great spiritual leaders who have gone before me: They don’t overthink it. They simply read the Bible and do what it says. They aren’t perfect dads or the best theologians, but they are stumbling their way forward. They are making mistakes, learning from them, and moving on.

Your family doesn’t need the perfect spiritual leader; what they do need is someone who will point them toward Jesus. You can spend your whole life striving for perfection. But meanwhile, your family is sitting at the table, starving.