The worst parent is the

chief expert, and the best parent is the chief confessor. Guess which one Dave was -- the parent of SIX prodigals? I gave them the law, and Janet gave them love. As brand-new Christians we made a lot of mistakes, and neither of us had a grace foundation that was wide-and-deep enough to enable us to be vulnerably honest with ourselves, and our kids. We thought we were SUPPOSED to be experts, and teach them all we knew. But we were not chief confessors, so they got a distorted view of who we really were, just as WE had a distorted view of who we were. We unwittingly came off to them as super Christians, something they struggled to become, and in adolescence, gave up trying.

Likewise, the best small-group leader is the chief confessor, and the worst, the chief expert. Best preacher is the chief confessor, but we train young preachers to be chief experts. Inner-humility is contagious, and so is inner-pride. Inner-humility is a fruit of the Spirit's work, over time, opening the eyes of a believer at times to see how much worse we are than we ever dreamed, so the Good News of Jesus momentarily transforms the believer into someone seculars find compelling. And our kids TOO. Outer-humility is what we Christian leaders learn to project, so others are convinced of our goodness, and our worthiness to lead. And we become convinced TOO.

-- Dave McCarty, GospelFriendships

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