follow.

who is ignite for? a question we hear a lot.
ignite is for followers.
that's right, followers. and yes, we are still ignite youth LEADERSHIP conference
i can hear the cogs grinding as you try to put this together.
let me try to help.
when you hear the word leader - or some derivation of the word leader - what, or who comes to mind? for me it is the pastor, the president, the ceo - those in "power." however, as i have come to find, and maybe you have too, just because someone is put into a position of management or power, that does not make them leaders. as a matter of fact, as history shows, many people in those positions turn out to be terrible leaders.
at ignite, we believe in order to lead well, you need to follow well.

if you take a look at some of the greatest leaders in the bible, you'll see what i mean:
abraham - the father of a nation. what if God spoke to you and said, "leave all that is familiar - your country, your family and your people - and go to a place that i will show you later,"? i would hesitate, wouldn't you? what if God spoke and said, "take your son - your only son - the one you love and go sacrifice him,"? i'm pretty sure that would be a quick no from me. but abraham followed God. after God spoke the first time, "abram left, just as the Lord had told him..." - genesis 12:4. after God spoke the second time, "early the next morning, abraham got up and saddled his donkey. he took with him...his son isaac." - genesis 22:3. he knew what it meant to follow, and in following became the father and leader of the nation of israel.
david - arguably, the greatest king of israel. also, the only man in the bible for whom it was said he was a man after God's own heart. in one of the most famous psalms, psalm 119, david says "i rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches." - psalm 119:14. sounds like he was follower, what do you think?
jumping to the new testament...
the 12 disciples - peter, james, john, matthew, andrew, james, judas, bartholemew, thomas, simon, thaddeus and phillip. the 12 that walked with Jesus. all Jesus said to these individuals was "follow me." and they did. actually, if you want to find a synonym for disciple, try follower.
paul - formerly known as saul - the persecutor of the church. God revealed himself to saul one day on the road to damascus...you may remember the story. let's just say a radical life change happened when he started to follow the one he had been persecuting. fast-forward a couple years to a letter that paul writes to one of his church plants in corinthians. he tells the people there, "follow my example as i follow the example of Christ." - 1 corinthians 11:1.

can you say that to the students in your youth ministry?
maybe we need to change our perspective on leadership.
maybe the most effective way to make leaders, is to first make disciples of Christ.
what are your thoughts?