August 10

The Best Leadership Decision


… you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave his life for her….

Ephesians 5:25 (NLT)


… I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Matthew 16:18 (NLT) .

Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work.

Psalm 19:13 (the Message)


At The Leadership Summit 2006, Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church spoke about the best leadership decision he ever made. He shared his early frustrations of never having enough time to do everything a young pastor needed to do. Andy shared his old philosophy which, was actually a fear: “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done.” And so, he used to pray, “Lord, I’ve got all this work to do. Would you take care of my family while I’m gone? Would you fill those gaps so I can do the work here?“

And so, Andy became a workaholic, but still, very frustrated.

It wasn’t until he linked two passages of Scripture that he came to understand God’s call. Without going into deep exegesis, the simple truths of Matthew 16:18 and Ephesians 5:25 spoke loud and clear. God called Andy to love his wife sacrificially. It was Christ who loved the church, and it was Christ would build His church--not Andy. It wasn’t Andy’s job. God calls husbands to love their wives.

Andy prayed, “Lord, I’ve got to love my wife, right? So, I can only give the church 45 hours a week, but would you cover the gaps while I’m gone taking care of my family?”

Eleven years ago, Andy came home with a new heart. He looked at his wife who was expecting their third child and asked, “What can I do?”

She said, “My toughest hours are 4:30-6:30 p.m., if you could just help me during those two hours, it would be worth any other four hours of my day.”

And that’s what Andy did. He left church every day at 4 p.m. His new philosophy was, If I have to, I’ll cheat the church before I’ll cheat my wife and family.

Andy has been faithful to God’s call.

And Jesus has done His work too. Eleven years later, North Point Community Church has grown just 200 people to over 15,000 adults worshipping at two campuses--soon to be three.

It was the best leadership decision he ever made.


Father, help us to see Your priorities. Give us the strength, the courage to make the tough calls, to live life Your way. Amen.