On Cue

As Dr. Sweets stated, collaboration is of vital importance in the church. It is a partnership between leaders and teammates. Before we can become leaders, we must learn how to be teammates, because sometimes we may lead while other times, we may follow.

As a singe young mother, it is easy to sometimes feel transparent to others. Not a transparent leader, but a transparent teammate. Where do we fit? We need the encouragement from those with parental experience, yet the fellowship of those with the youthful vigor we still crave. Unintentionally, it is easy to be overlooked by a two-parent household because we do not have the partnership that another mate can offer. Yet, it is easy to be overlook by single adults without kids because we don’t have the ability to get up and go on impulse. How do we create a partnership with two groups where we don’t exactly “fit together”?

If “leadership is a dance [where] the partners in the dance are not rigidly divided into those who lead and those who follow” then sometimes we will get our toes stepped on and sometimes we will step on toes. Collaboration takes practice. An extra hello today or a spontaneous phone call another day will be required from both partners. It’s an ongoing process where the follower may take the lead because the follower may think something is missing and an extra step is required. Taking the extra step is what distinguishes the leader from the follower. If two people decide to hang back instead of acting on the need, then you no longer have a dance, but you have an audience.

As more and more single parents come into the church, it will take an effort on the church members to lead in the dance, or to form the collaboration. However, as the leader, we must pay attention to the cue of the follower. Are they trying to take the lead because they feel something is missing? Can they follow your steps and vice versa? Have you formed the collaboration that is required to make the dance work? Does everyone have a partner? Is there something you can learn, that just might make it work? Everyone dances differently, so in order to collaborate, sometimes we may need to take the lead and sometimes we need to take the cue and follow.

So, what we need to ask is, what can I do to encourage collaboration in the church? Where can I add an extra step to make the partnership work? Lord, lead me and I will follow.