The Burdensome Gift of Leadership: Kaylee Hibbard

This summer, I worked at Camp Istrouma where I was in charge of the high schoolers who volunteered their summers to come and serve the camp in whatever capacity was necessary, which mostly consisted of kitchen work and cleanup duties. My role was to disciple these kids, to show them what it means to be a servant of Christ, to explain to them how washing dishes and mopping floors was an outlet to serve others, serve the camp, and serve the kingdom of God through their work. In between meal times, I led a small group for them. What I quickly realized was how easy it is as a leader in a community to forget how crucial it is to spiritually feed myself before I can ever properly lead others. Oftentimes it is so easy to do everything in my power to try and spread the Good News, but if I cannot share in the blessings that this news brings, where does that leave me? What happens when I have finished preaching to others, but with no time allotted for my own relationship with God, I end up disqualifying myself from the race to the eternal prize?

 I always assumed that the farther you climbed the ladder of leadership in a church, the better your spiritual standing. I thought that surely the people leading me somehow had a better connection to God, just by agreeing to take on a little more responsibility. This summer disproved that thought in my mind. I would go as far as saying that it can actually become harder to have a close connection to God when you are tasked with leading others. When you are a pastor and you know every word of the sermon, it is not as impactful in that moment as it is for a listener. When you lead worship, your brain can be distracted by mistakes made or notes missed, whereas the people in the pews just hear powerful words being sung to our Savior. If you are not diligent with your spiritual life as a leader in the church, it is easy to become more devoted to the workload than to God. It is easy to treat the leadership role as a job and not as a gift from God that allows us to guide people to Christ.

 It will always be harder to be a part of the production than it is to be a part of the audience. But the reward for taking on a leadership position in any faithful community far outweighs the cost. Even with the added intentionality it takes to stay rooted in your faith, getting to play any small part in leading people to God overshadows that and it always will. In this upcoming school year, with my new roles in the Wesley community, I am grateful for the lesson on Christian leadership God graced me with this summer. There is no proper way to lead others–in the church or anywhere else–without leading by example. To inspire others to serve God, I first have to serve Him. To encourage others to remain faithful, so shall I remain faithful, to the one true God who gave me the gift that is sharing the gospel and the sacred trust that is laid upon me as a leader in the church to do so.

Kaylee is an incredible servant of Christ. We are blessed here at Wesley by her joy, love, dedication, and friendship which she pours out in full measure to anyone she meets. Going into her Junior year, she has decided to join the Wesley discipleship team and continue to bear the burden of leadership.