Are You A Courage Practitioner?
More than ever before, leaders need to be experts in courage. We must act courageously to unharness the courage of those we lead.
Courage, of course, is not the absence of fear. It’s about facing our fears and moving forward in our lives. One of my concerns during this season is that far too many people have given up on their God-inspired dreams, or have pressed the pause button on actualizing those dreams. They are dis-couraged. The prefix “dis” before courage means to cause to be the opposite of. Far too many leaders, and those we lead, have had our courage “dissed.” And when we are discouraged, we have no courage.
An important part of our role as hospitable leaders is to be hospitable to people and their dreams and to constantly challenge them to pray and plan and act to make their dreams come true. We are en-couragers. The “en” prefix before courage is an intensifier. When we en-courage, we intensify courage. To intensify is to cause something to exist to a high degree, to make it very strong, or even extreme.
During this season we absolutely must be en-couraging people whose courage has been “dissed.” It's time to face our fears and move forward in our lives and businesses and ministries and more.
I thoroughly enjoy the historical fiction of the inimitable Stephen Pressfield. In his Virtues of War he writes an autobiography of Alexander the Great in the voice of Alexander himself. Alexander tells us how he never saw his father so proud as when he showed him his first wound suffered in battle. Alexander was about 16 years old at this time. He wrote that his father (the great Philip of Macedonia) had “never schooled me in warfare as such. Rather he plunged me into it.” When he showed his father that first wound—from a lance thrust through his left shoulder—Philip thundered “Does it hurt?” Alexander answered “yes.” And his father “roared, ‘Good, it's supposed to!’ Then turning to the officers and soldiers round about: ‘My son’s wound is in the front where it should be.’” Then Alexander poignantly states, “My father loved me.”
I love the fact that Philip was proud that his son had acted courageously in battle. How did he know that Alexander had acted courageously? Because, of course, his wound was in the front. He was facing the fight rather than running from it. And I love the fact that Alexander saw his father's love for him in this moment.
I realize this—his father loved him yet sent him into battle—may be confusing for some. And therein lies the problem: I think too many leaders believe their primary job is to protect people from difficulty, to keep them safe. But I disagree.
I think we do the people we lead a disservice when we are not challenging them to face forward in their lives and to fight to actualize their God-destined futures.
Please don't misunderstand me. I love the people I lead and serve and will do everything possible to protect them. But at some point, I have a responsibility to encourage them to engage life in a way that involves risk and all the rewards that come with it.
Thank God that Jesus did not teach his followers that the most important thing was to “stay safe.” He loved them so much that he challenged them to risk everything to advance His kingdom. The Apostle Paul certainly got the message. Check this out:
2 Corinthians 11:23 – 28 NIV
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Then he states, in 2 Corinthians 12:10:
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
We need to inspire those we lead to embrace the hardships and difficulties with courage and faith.
As hospitable leaders, let’s take seriously our role as encouragers. Rewards will come to those who pursue their dreams and face challenges head-on.