Diligence

The title for this blog comes from Romans 12:8


⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

I am a pastor.  Not all pastors actually possess the gift of leadership, but I believe I do, or at the very least, I would like to.  Or I thought I would several months ago when I began my ministry.
It turns out, leadership isn't such a desirable gift.  Leading is actually quite stressful, especially because there are many naysayers who love to say "that will never work."  Hard to lead anywhere when there are roadblocks put in the way (Apparently the compassionate are cheerful, there are no promises like this made about leaders).
This verse from Romans struck me because it provides a definition of leadership that gives me comfort.  Leaders are diligent. They put in constant effort to accomplish the task at hand.  If this is a quality of leadership, then I intend to keep it up.  If I fail in every other aspect of ministry, at least I can be diligent, despite those who put up road blocks, despite those who say I need to proceed more cautiously, despite the others who sit idly looking at the roadblock in front of them telling me it is too dangerous to go around.  
Playing it safe has never really been my thing anyway.  My calling is to proclaim the gospel, in fact that is the calling of the whole body of Christ.  It is what we are to do with every gift.  So, as I set out on this journey of professional ministry, I choose to proclaim with diligence.  Because if I don't, I have failed as a leader.