I've been in some level of leadership for the past 18 years of my life.  I've been a leader under the vision of some truly great people.  I've had the privilege of leading leaders and have had both good and bad leadership moments.  Often God speaks to me about leadership in athletic metaphors.  Recently He spoke to me about leadership as I was thinking about Micheal Jordan.  About how calm and collected he was in clutch moments.  MJ was put in situation after situation where his team looked to him to close out a game and he was always ready to do just that.  In the playoffs alone, MJ took 18 game winning or tying shots.  Of those 18 he made 9! Why is that a big deal?  To make 50% of the shots you take is considered a great percentage and very difficult to do.  To shoot that percentage at any time is great, but in pressure situations, it's really pretty remarkable.  In this moment with God, I began to think about what the other players had to be thinking in during these moments.  What was there roles in these opportunities for Micheal Jordan?  Then God led me to John 3:29-30 where it says, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”  

     To be honest, I read the verses and they were extremely confusing.  I couldn't see what God was trying to show me.  I had no clue what those verses had to do with the way I led people. So I began to study the verses.  I opened up the message version of the bible and turned to John 3:29-30 and it said, "That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”  Immediately, as an athlete, that verse came to life in my spirit and I began to see more clearly what God was trying to say.  At the end of a game whether it be a last second shot, the last 3 minutes, or even the last quarter, Michael Jordan took the game over to try to lead his team to success.  But it was the moments throughout the entire game that gave him the opportunities to come through at the end.  God kept bringing me back to the team.  It was their contributions to the game that led to the moments for Michael Jordan.  Someone on the team hustled for a loose ball.  Someone worked hard to get two rebounds they probably shouldn't have gotten.  Someone scored a few more points then normal.  This guy had 10 points, that guy had 4 assists.  That guy made a buzzer beater from the other end of the court at the end of the first quarter.  From afar all these contributions seem insignificant to the game but as the game approaches the end, they become very significant. It began to make sense.

     This is how I believe God wants leaders to lead.  It's not our job, to close the deal so to speak, but only to do our part and allow God to "finish the game".  Jesus wants to be MJ in the lives of the people we minister to.  He wants us as leaders to put in seemingly insignificant contributions through loving people, being their friend, and doing life with them.  We don't have to assume the pressure of being the closer in their lives.  Jesus is the closer!  He just asks that we help keep it close through our contributions, so at the right and appointed time, HE can take the game over and give us the victory we desire.  This idea relieves all the pressure in leadership to win the “game” in someone’s life.  We just have to do our part of being a friend to people and when the time is right we “move to the sidelines”, we decrease and let Jesus increase and be the ultimate closer that He is.  When you're leading people don't get caught up in trying to make them be this or that.  That’s not your job. It's actually impossible for you to even do.  Just love people unconditionally, be there when they need you, and leave the heavy lifting to Jesus.  He put in the work on the cross to be the best closer in the history of mankind, just like Michael Jordan put in work to be the best basketball player ever.  It's only right that MJ closed the game out for his team and it’s only right that Jesus be the closer in the lives of the people he died for.