It’s easy to think the journey of leaders you admire to be easy. But that’s not always the truth. In a wide ranging interview about his time as a young mega-church pastor to his current role as President of the IMB, David Platt talks honestly and openly about his struggles as a young leader and how he overcame them.
In a wide ranging interview about his time as a young mega-church pastor to his current role as President of the IMB, David Platt talks honestly and openly about his struggles as a young leader and how he overcame them.
Welcome to Episode 143 of the podcast.
Guest Links
David on Twitter
David’s website
Counter Culture by David Platt
Radical – Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream by David Platt
Links Mentioned
Register for both the Deep and Wide and the Orange Tour on June 8th to take advantage of a one-day-only discount
3 Insights from This Episode
1. You need structures and systems to support where the Word is leading you to go.
David shared a story about how he gave a sermon and challenged the church to support the mission field. At the end, he asked the people who were committed to serving the nations to come forward.
He didn’t anticipate that most of the church would walk to the front… in every single service.
Suddenly, they had willing volunteers who wanted to serve on a mission trip, but they didn’t have the systems in place to know what to do with them. It caused a year of chaos and challenges.
However, the lesson David learned from that is one that every young leader can learn from: It’s not just about igniting an idea, it’s about figuring out a way to sustain it.
2. There’s hope after restructuring.
Restructuring is a painful process no matter what. But through the pain, God provides hope.
You’ll be surprised and amazed at how God leads people to new positions and new assignments in wonderful ways. A restructure can also make you better organizationally. I can bring you to a better, stable place. The changed process can prompt a paradigm shift that you and your organization need.
The lesson from restructuring: God really does hold all things together.
3. The Lord is the one who sustains us.
David had written a successful book and was traveling and speaking and, by all outsider perspective accounts, was in a major personal and professional stride of success.
However, David openly and honestly shared that during this season, his time with the Lord was minimal at best. It took a wakeup call from his wife to realize that he needed to get back on track with his quiet times and spiritual health.
From David’s story, young leaders can learn: No matter how successful you get, God is still the spring from which all good things flow.
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 143: David Platt on Overcoming the Struggles of His First Decade of Leadership Click To Tweet CNLP 143: David Platt on Overcoming the Struggles of His First Decade of Leadership Click To Tweet CNLP 143: David Platt on Overcoming the Struggles of His First Decade of Leadership Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning.
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Next Episode: Barnabas Piper
Faith brings certainty, right? Well, yes, but it’s bigger than that. In a wide-ranging conversation with Carey Nieuwhof, Barnabas Piper, explains how his parents, John and Noel Piper, encouraged curiosity and how he came to view it not as the enemy of faith, but as its friend.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 143.
