Gary Haugen is the President and CEO of International Justice Mission.

Social justice is a topic that many are aware of yet we often do little about it. We may even say “well, justice isn’t really my thing.” God may reply, “Then maybe I am not your thing.”

Justice matters to God

  • Micah 6:8 (thanks Paul for the reference)
  • Isaiah 1:17

“If you want your leadership to matter, lead in the things that matter to God.”

Gary suggested several points in How do we lead when the calling seems hopeless, scary and hard:

How do we lead when the task seems hopeless:

We need to re-center to where our hope lies.

When Jesus fed the 5000, he didn’t ask them for what they needed, but what they had. When they brought what they had, Jesus took care of what they needed.

Sometimes God will lead us into a task that seems hopeless.

How do we lead when the task seems scary:

Jesus didn’t call us to be “safe.” He called us to be brave.

If what I do doesn’t seem just a little bit dangerous, I might want to check that it is Jesus that I am following. It is entirely possible to be on the journey with Jesus but totally missing the adventure.

How do we lead others when the task is hard?

  1. Choosing to not be safe
  2. Choosing deep spiritual health
  3. Choosing to pursue excellence
  4. Choosing to seize the joy

Lead those you lead to a place so dangerous that they will either run to God or stop pretending!