Guidance: Use the Force!

One of my favourite movies is the very first Star Wars film and the scene where Luke Skywalker is part of the attack on the Death Star is a top moment! At the bidding of the disembodied Obi-Wan Kenobi, in mid-attack, Luke is told, ‘Use the Force!’ He turns off the guidance computer and has just one shot at obliterating the enemy’s mega-weapon… - you know how it ends!

If only guidance was that easy! (My brother and I once played a very interesting game of cricket where I decided to bat with my eyes shut and ‘trust the force!’…) The fact is that in wanting to serve God, follow Him and be in His will, we need to learn to hear from God.

There are important decisions to be made in life – significant relationships and marriage, having children, allocating time where demands are increasing, career and job development, where to live, spending money, buying possessions – among others. In leadership, the consequences of our decisions can be even more far-reaching, both for ourselves and also for the churches we serve.

In the next few blogs I will look at guidance and some principles that I have found helpful. One of my greatest leadership decision moments was related to the first building project we undertook here at King’s in year 2000. It was whether we should sell an old church building to the Jehovah’s Witnesses!