Equip and Enable are two leadership terms that seem to get tossed around interchangeably. In my experience, they’re not interchangeable. They are two concurrent yet distinctive phases of leadership development that must happen hand in hand.

Equipping deals primarily with resourcing. This includes connecting the people you are leading with the right relationships, information, and training opportunities to be successful. It also involves giving them adequate funds, supplies, and working conditions to get their jobs done.

Enabling has more to do with empowering. It is a process instilling confidence in those you lead by giving them authority to make decisions, and leeway to make mistakes. Enabling means building into, calling out, and backing up those you lead.

I’m sure this isn’t a perfect comparison/analysis, but it helped me in thinking through some leadership issues today, so I thought I’d take 10 minutes and share it with you in a post.

2 years ago I heard a Bill Hybels talk about how he started going to see a counselor and it really helped him.
I thought: “Man, I need to do that… that would probably help me… “
But I didn’t do anything about it.
It felt too weird and kind of unnecessary. I don’t look at porn, beat my wife, or snort cocaine. Surely I don’t really need counseling.

Then around the first part of this year, I heard another Hybels sermon where he talked about going to counseling.
And this time it didn’t just seem like a good idea, it felt like a command from God.
So I called a counselor, told him I wasn’t on the brink of divorce court or even mildly depressed, but I just wanted to start coming weekly and processing the issues of my life with a professional. I asked him if that was weird. He said it wasn’t weird, but that it was, from his perspective, very smart.
“Of course you think I should come see you, at $80 an hour… “ I thought.
But he seemed nice, sincere, and insightful, so I set an appointment.

And I thought about asking him if I could sneak in through the back door.
I mean, what if one of my church members sees me going in? What would they think? What kind of suspicions and speculations could that create?
“I saw Pastor Furtick going into the therapist’s office… I told you he was crazy.”

Then I made a profound decision:
Screw it.
Screw what someone might think about it.
It turns out, what I thought they’d think about it and what they really thought about it couldn’t have been more opposite.
Right after my first appointment, I told my staff that I had decided to go to a counselor so that I could be as emotionally and spiritually healthy as possible as a husband, father, leader, and man of God.
You know what? It made them more confident in my spiritual authority and stability, not less confident.

And a few months later, when I shared with the entire Elevation congregation that I see a counselor weekly, surprise (!), they didn’t stone me! They applauded me. My email inbox was flooded with:
“Pastor, thank you for doing what you have to do to stay connected and healthy”
emails.
It seems that folks appreciated the fact that I’m entirely committed to being in this race for the long haul.
They’re not shocked that I’m vulnerable. They’re just grateful that I’m not trying to appear bulletproof. Because they know, I know and God knows I’m not.

I think every pastor should consider seeing a professional counselor regularly.
For a few reasons:

1. Everybody’s a little crazy. Pastors are, by nature, extra crazy. All the good ones are, anyway.
2. Spiritual leadership makes you a wide target for spiritual warfare. You need all the help and protection you can get.
3. Ministry is very complex and draining. You need some place to process and be replenished. The more confidential the relationship where this happens, the better the chance you’ll actually open up, tell the truth, and experience progress. And it’s good to have a professional on the other side of the room who can get under the hood and tell you what’s really wrong, based on years of experience and training, and a God given discernment.
4. Pastors and leaders owe it to those they lead to keep their hearts in tip-top condition. As the heart of the pastor goes, so goes the heart of the church.
5. You’ll accomplish so much more for Christ when your heart is in proper alignment. Being emotionally whole drastically increases your productivity and your ministry effectiveness. And Holly says (unsolicited) I’m a better husband and dad. That’s enough reason in itself.

Furthermore, I think churches should foot the bill for their pastors to go to counseling. It’s a whole lot less expensive to underwrite your spiritual leader’s routine maintenance than to pay the price when he crashes and burns. Anybody wanna argue that?

Elevation, thanks for encouraging me to build a foundation to go the distance.
In Jesus’ Name, I’m staying healthy for the long haul.
I may be crazy, but at least I’m doing something about it.

I prayed this sentence out loud yesterday.
I was referring to a local Christian leader who said that the vision God put on my heart for Elevation in this city was impossible and would never happen.
That Charlotte would never have a church with over 10,000 people coming weekly.
Of course, he didn’t say this to my face, he said it behind my back, to one of my friends.
And it got back to me.
Of course.

And my first reaction was to be discouraged.
But suddenly, I became thankful in a very angry way.
And this guy’s words of doubt and skepticism turned from cold water to gasoline on a fire that was already burning pretty hot.

So I prayed:
“God, thank You for that idiot who thinks it isn’t possible. Thank you for every critic and skeptic that says we can’t do it.”
Their scoffing will only serve as deeper motivation to see God shut their unbelieving mouths when He fulfills His promise.

To all of those who make fun of those with big dreams:
I want to sincerely thank you.
Your cynicism increases my passion and deepens my determination more than you’ll ever know.
I don’t know what I’d do without you.

We had an awesome staff meeting today.
Yep, staff meeting on Memorial Day.
Go ahead and say it.
“Furtick’s a freakin’ slave driver.”
Actually, it was Chunks’ decision. So he’s the jerk, not me.
And we’re comping some time at the end of the week instead.

Honestly, it’s just that I was gone all last week and couldn’t wait to see everyone. I’m serious. I really miss my staff when I’m away, and I like coming to work, and couldn’t wait to dive into some things.
Plus, I hear Larry B. is grilling burgers for our interns who start work today, and that should usher in the holiday spirit in fine style.
Chunks isn’t going to let me eat any buns. He says it’s time for me to get back on our modified Body-For-Life diet. He’s right. I ate like a man with a death wish at the beach last week.

Our staff is pretty remarkable. I see them growing so much from week to week, and it’s scary to think about how dangerous they’re going to be a year or two from now, or when we all start growing some grey hair in a decade or so.

This staff has baptized 426 people in the last 3 weeks, and they’re still hungry for more… ready to pick the next fight… and take the next mountain.
That’s pretty cool.

I led a quick discussion from our Good to Great reading in staff meeting today, and posed Jim Collins’ question:
“What do we have the ability to be the best in the world at?”

As I sat back and listened to our team answer that question (with some pretty audacious answers!), I realized that I might not be totally clear about what we can be the best in the world at, but I am certain that I have the best people in the world doing it with me.

For example, the growth I’ve seen in Chunks, our Executive Pastor, in the last 3 months even has been an amazing metamorphosis. He’s improved in every possible way. Communication ability, fashion sense, faith, decision making processes, professionalism, confrontation… he’s just blowing up as a leader and a man of God before my very eyes. He’s proving to be a highly competent Joshua who handles almost every battle so I can stay on the mountain.
It’s even more amazing to realize that he was a physical therapist a year ago with no ministry or business training.
In fact, when he started as our Administrative Pastor he didn’t even know how to use Microsoft Excel.
Our first financial report was recorded in a spiral notebook.
You’ve come a long way man.
I’m proud of you.

Elevation, I did something I haven’t done in the entire life of our church yesterday-I visited another church on a Sunday morning!
I told Perry I felt like I was doing something wrong by being at another church on a Sunday… like I was at a strip club or something.

It was really good to be with my NewSpring friends and spend some time with Perry, who is quickly becoming one of my best friends. You guys have got to take those Skittles out of the green room.

Getting away from Elevation for a morning did 2 things for me:
1. Allowed our staff to run the show without me (things probably run even more smoothly when I’m gone).
2. Got me super pumped about preaching this week. I should be on fire. Especially since I’m preaching about worship… a favorite topic I haven’t talked about enough in the past.

Thanks J.D. for bringing it yesterday. You’re an excellent preacher and a good friend. We are going to change this state together. Bet.