The People Business

I'm in the people business but probably not for the reason that you would immediately think. See I'm in the people business not as much because of my position as a pastor but because of my role as a follower of Jesus. Jesus allowed people, even messy people, to shape his daily schedule on many occasions. He seemed to be consistently drawn to the mess of peoples lives. We often find him associating with those marginalized by society. He was clearly in the people business. In fact he drew crowds of followers every where he went. But here's the part that I love. Jesus drew crowds of followers but he strategically spent his days on earth developing leaders rather than simply entertaining followers. Specifically, he developed his replacements [the disciples] as far as "earthly leadership" is concerned. So as one of his followers, I want my life to reflect that same value--people development and more specifically leadership development. I'll leave you with a quote to consider:

"A leader has been successful not when he or she has acquired a follower, but when he or she has reproduced a leader" --Christian Swartz

What are you doing to grow personally as a leader? Who are you currently developing as a leader? Do your insecurities cause you to invite followers more than develop leaders?