Be cautious about trusting a leader who hasn't been through a crucible; broken people are better than whole people when it comes to leadership. Try looking through the Bible to find a leader who hasn't first gone through the trials that break him down so God can better flow through him.[These are notes from an excellent talk at Generation Unleashed youth conference; I am here with the youth of SGF and DSC. Here's a photojournal of the event. Sitting in a session with other pastors hearing from Pastor Frank Damazio.]
Do we trust leaders who only talk about going from glory to glory without the valleys of testing, the valleys of being led by the Shepherd?
The crucible exposes your values. In that time of pain, do you protect yourself and your reputation? Do you value equally the people who can't give back to you and the people who can?
The detours becomes the testimony, not the (linear) progress of your life.
When people come to accuse and criticize, Pastor Damazio's standard response is "Oh, if you only knew me better, you'd have more to accuse me with!"
