What does it mean to have "guided freedom" in ministry? I am not sure, but that it is a phrase that has been popping into my head a lot recently. I have realized something about myself recently when it comes to ministry, I am not really good at working with vagueness. I like very clear direction or complete freedom. When someone has expectations of me or of my ministry and does not tell me, or does not give me as much information I think I need, it just puts me in a panic. I like to be told..."I want you to run a mid week program and it needs to be Awana" or ..."You have complete freedom to run whichever mid week program you would like or don't run one at all. It is up to you, I trust you."
How does one get this kind of trust? That is what I am trying to figure out. Some of it comes with time. I know that being new in a position, I will most likely not have that trust from the leadership for a while. But there are some places that give that trust right from the start but will be quick to remove it when you mess up. Some times that trust is there but I have not reached out and taken it. My own lack of faith in myself has stopped me from seeing how much the leadership trust me.
I am sure that I am plagued with one or all of these reasons at some point in time, but that still hasn't brought us to guided freedom, what does that look like? Well to me it is a balance between complete freedom and complete direction. This balance can shift from activity to activity, some things I want way more freedom in and others I would love more direction. I am just learning about this concept of guided freedom. I am learning what balance I work best in, how to tell the leadership about that balance and how to trust myself to reach out and take the trust that is often so readily given.
