Nurturing the Souls of Royalty

This past Sunday my friend and ministry coach, Troy Cady, visited our missional community to observe the work we do with friends without homes and to encourage our fledgling community in our work.  As part of the evening he shared one of his Playfull Faith stories about creation (learn more here) and the special place humanity held as stewards of God's creation.  He tied it to the mission of our community in restoring a piece of what God had created in our daily connections with people.

What stood out to me in this was the royal nature God placed in humanity as we relate to the rest of His creation.  He is the Great King and He chooses to share a bit of His dominion with humanity, which was created in His image.  In that sense, each person has a seed of royalty in them that few of us ever fully realize.  It is the call of those who follow Jesus to encourage others in finding their authentic royal nature.  As a leader it is also a challenge with each of the hats I wear to remember that good spiritual leadership includes being a good steward of the souls of royalty.

First off, as a husband and father, it affects the way I lead my family.  I need to consider every decision with a focus on what it will do to encourage the fulfillment of God's royal purpose in my wife and each of my daughters.  What can I do to help them realized the full potential of this royal nature in them?  Am I encouraging them and creating the environment to live life to the fullest and not settle for the status quo society seeks to draw us all into?

Secondly, as the team leader of a fledgling missional community, how am I caring for the souls of those God has entrusted to our community?  Am I helping them to discover the unique place in God's plan or simply using people to accomplish my goals and agendas?  In my role as a pastoral leader, I need to keep these questions in front of me always.

As part of our community's mission we spend time serving friends without homes living in tent cities around our city.  This is another area where we need to remember that we are ultimately caring for the souls of people created with the potential of a royal nature in them.  Too often in philanthropy it's easy to begin to think of people as projects and loose sight of their humanity.  It's important to remember that God's desire is that our friends discover their true nature as part of His royal family.

Finally, as a part-time computer teacher, how am I encouraging my students to exercise dominion over the world of technology and not simple be consumers of what others create for them?  How can I design my projects to help bring this out of them?  How do I encourage them to think of themselves in light of their royal potential?

We are each called to be part of God's royal family.  What are we doing to live and lead that way?