When in Doubt, Go.

When unsure what to do next, perhaps doubting for a moment that

Be decisive and see challenges as opportunities to practice creative problem-solving. Be optimistic and double-down on finding joy and laughter. Be steady and accountable as a safe place to turn in times of trouble. Be diplomatic and explore possibilities and alternative perspectives.

Our fathers taught, “Your actions speak so loudly I can’t hear what you say.” Today’s young people tell us, “Don’t talk the talk if you don’t walk the walk.” Each maxim merely reflects a higher wisdom that urges Christian leaders to “conduct [themselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).

When Jesus offers the counterintuitive instruction, “Take nothing with you” in Luke 10, he is in part calling disciples to move from doing things for people to being with people in the neighborhood and receiving from them.

Discipleship is not just the feeling of affection and emotion but also a call to follow out into the world and act.33 It is both to receive at the phenomenological level and to respond and participate. Resonance is both experience and action.

Leading when you don’t know where to go, when you don’t have the commitment or the passion, or worst of all, when you can’t overcome your fear—that sort of leading is worse than none at all.