This one almost goes without saying right? Passion allows us to be emotionally attached to the ministry that God has placed us in. This is different from vision in that vision allows us to SEE where we are going…passion allows us to feel it…to be emotionally attached. ALL people ultimately DO what they are the most passionate about. I don’t care what it is…we do what we passionate about doing.

Have you ever heard the old saying, “As the pastor goes…so goes the church”? Well it’s true. As leaders we get what we preach…we get what we convey as vision. If you are a passionate person…you will naturally attract passionate people. If you are a negative person you will attract negative people…and so on and so on…

As leaders we need to recognize those that are passionate about the vision and the ministry. They should be easy to spot because they’re the ones that will, most likely, be working harder and sacrificing more than others. It’s these people that we want to make our greatest investments in.

Now, to be realistic, not everyone on your team is going to be passionate about the ministry you are doing. (Unless you are a church planter you are most likely inheriting a ministry that has already been established.) But here is the thing…that’s OK. If they have bought into the vision, support your leadership, and are performing their role to your satisfaction…by all means keep them.

If you have people like this you’ll have to make a few adjustments in your leadership…

For instance…I’ve adapted this into my leadership…there are some people I PASTOR and there are some people I DEVELOP. There are some people I TRAIN for a specific job and there are some people I DEVELOP into leaders that will handle greater responsibilities.

Let me see if I can explain this one…

As I evaluate my team I try and observe those that are passionate about student ministry and those that are passionate about just doing ministry. There is a difference between the two…are you with me? Those that are passionate about student ministry I develop...I invest into their lives…I spend time with them…I teach them…I stretch them into handling greater responsibilities. Everyone else…I basically train…I teach them a certain skill and then launch them in that position that I’ve just taught them to handle. Their responsibilities are limited but they are placed in areas where they can succeed.

By doing this you’ll be able to create a passionate environment where those that are there to really connect with students and long to see the vision of the ministry accomplished will reach new levels and those that are there for the sake of desiring to just do a work in the ministry are able to find success as well. Everyone wins.