Relationship Over Strategies

I like to win. Maybe a little too much at times. I've had friends call me competitive, and even though I don't see what they are talking about I am sure that there are some elements of what they claim that are accurate. To be completely honest, my wife will never play Monopoly with me again (learned that the hard way in our first few years of marriage...).My guess is that if you are in leadership you like to win also. You want to be successful with what you have been entrusted with. Part of what leaders do is see a better future and lead people towards that goal.So what do we do?We develop plans. We dream. We think about ways to make the idea become a reality. We strategize.These are all GOOD things. I love strategy. When I get the opportunity to come along side of leaders and youth pastors I love it when they are thinking strategically. Strategy is good - until it takes the place of relationship.[quote align="center" color="#999999"]Strategy is good - until it takes the place of relationship.[/quote]Could you imagine what would happen if you traded relationship with your spouse and substituted a strategy instead? Both the relationship and strategy would more than likely fail.Strategies become significant when they find their foundation and support in relationship.Simply put: everything we do 'for' Jesus should flow out of our relationship WITH Jesus. Our primary motivation isn't found in a strategy or system - it's found in a Person! (see John 15)If you are a ministry leader, work hard to keep relationship above strategies. When the connection is right, it is much easier to get the product right. The difficulty in this is strategies give us something to measure but relationship isn't something we are able to measure in the same way.Should you be strategic? Absolutely! But make sure the strategy finds its foundation in relationship!