The 10 Qualities Of Plandemic Leadership
I have been seriously pondering this global shift that has overtaken the earth in a few short months of time. We have become very comfortable with hearing the word “pandemic.” In the beginning, it was more of a shock and unrealistic. Today, it’s becoming more of a lifestyle. I’ve been thinking about what are the leadership differences between pandemic leadership and plandemic leadership I believe that really, in a nutshell, plandemic leadership summarizes how we’re going to move through this pandemic and get on with life, ministry, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
With this in mind, I want to lay some thoughts upon your heart, to stir you to action. I pray that the Holy Spirit deposits these thoughts down deep into your soul, into your congregation, into your staff, or your friends. I believe there are some distinct differences between pandemic leadership and plandemic leadership.
First, when it comes to pandemic leadership, he or she panics and prays. But the plandemic leader pauses, prays, and plans. At the beginning, this may seem like a subtle difference, but it’s a huge difference because this leader chooses to move with a plan. The other leader is more reactionary, anxious, and fearful. Usually, the person who runs away because of fear does not necessarily think of the path he/she is choosing to run on. Before long, he or she has gone days or months in the wrong direction!
Second, the pandemic leader is moved by fear. The plandemic leader is motivated by faith. When we think of fear, oftentimes, we think of the person who measures a glass of water, by being half empty rather than half full. He or she throws a summary over the whole problem and says, one shoe fits all, rather than being more pragmatic in his or her approach. During this timeframe, we have watched governors in America apply this approach to their people. It has been unbiblical, unpractical, and unbalanced. Their leadership is measured by fear. They take short little steps instead of believing God can help us to take huge steps.
When it comes to the plandemic leader, they are motivated by faith, I don’t mean wishful thinking. I don’t mean hopeful thinking. I don’t mean just positive thinking. I’m not putting faith in faith or hope in hope. I’m saying that by faith, God will do something in your life.
When I think of Noah, for example, Scripture says that he was moved by the coming flood; there was fear in his heart. Yet, he didn’t sit there and wait for the flood to engulf him. God gave him a plan to take him and his family through the flood until they arrived to the other side. Instead of being moved by fear, we’re to be motivated by faith.
Third, the pandemic leader worries and waits. Whereas, the plandemic later worships and walks. In other words, when a person is “scared to death,” he or she does not move. They are like deer in headlights. They don’t make any changes. They just hope that tomorrow is a little better. They check the news all the time, just wondering if it’s just a little better than it was yesterday.
However, the plandemic leader, worships and walks. In other words, he views the opportunity as a worship opportunity and asks God for a path to walk on. When the Lord shows the path, he or she gets on with walking! About fifteen years ago, I went through a terrible timeframe. During that period in my life, I paused, pondered, and prayed. I asked the Lord to give me a list of winning steps I needed to have in order to walk through what was surrounding my life. I made a list of ten steps to victory. Once I knew the path to take, no matter what was going on that day, I stayed on the winning path. No matter if I got good news or bad news, I stayed on the list that God gave to me. Whether somebody did something good or something ugly to me during that timeframe, I stayed on the list! I challenge you to worship and walk; make a list of the steps you need to take to come out on the other side. Please do not get stuck in the “worry and wait mode,” but worship and walk.
Fourth, the pandemic leader wishes to go back, but the plandemic leader works to go forward. I thank God for history! I thank God for your history and my history. Without our history, we will not have authenticity. There are a lot of things you can have in my life you can have. But there’s one thing you can’t have and that is my history. Without it, I don’t have authenticity and neither do you.
We thank God for what he’s done in the past. We thank God for all he has accomplished in our history. One person said many years ago, history just stands for His Story. We thank God for His Story. But we don’t wish to go back.
We work to go forward. I submit to you there’s not much left back there. I thank God for the history we can read. I thank God that we can talk to men and women about what has happened in different generations. Yet, I submit to you, we need fresh vigor, vitality, and victory today. We need what God has done yesterday, again today. So, we don’t just wish to go back. We work to go forward. We believe that there is victory in the valley and miracles on the mountain. Dr. Kenneth C. Ulmer, Founder of Faithful Central Bible Church says, “The worst place to be is where God was. God did a lot in ‘the was’ but He is not there today.”
The next quality is that the pandemic leader complains about the problem, but the plandemic leader will create a solution. I like what Dr. Dennis Whatley said so many years ago in Psychology of Winning. If you’ve never listened to this series, I encourage you to get your copy soon. He said, “You can always spot the losers in life, because they spend all their time making others look bad, so they look good. In other words, he doesn’t have to be mature, if he can make someone else look immature. He doesn’t have to clean his car, if he can take the keys and scratch up his neighbor’s car. He doesn’t have to cut his grass if he can toilet paper his neighbor’s yard.”
Nevertheless, this is not who we are. We’re not going to spend every day in the midst of this pandemic and complain about the problem. We’re going to do more than that. We’re going to create solutions.
Sixth, the pandemic leader defines normal in the past, but a plandemic leader defends that normal is in the future. Now, I hope you pay attention to what I am about to say, because Christ is our normal, not the circumstances, not the crowds, and not the chaos. Our normal is not found in yesterday, last year, last month, or last decade. Our life in Christ is our normal. I love what Dr. Leonard Sweets said to me earlier this year. He said, “It’s not that Christ is behind us pushing us to go forward. Christ is in front of us, pulling us to where he is.” Did you let that statement sink in?
We are not moving into a “new normal.” In other words, we are not going to live a compromising life. Our normal is found in Christ and Him alone. God is calling you and me to be the “normal Christian.” We are more than our successes in the past. Our success is based upon our Savior in the present. Watchman Nee used to say, “Many Christians have lived the abnormal Christian life so long, that they think it is normal.”
I submit to you that we don’t need to get back to normal. We need to go forward, not to find a new normal, but the normal that’s in Christ Jesus and Him alone. We don’t have to compromise. We don’t have to water it down. Christ has given us the victory and in Him we walk day by day, believing that victory is for us. The pandemic leader thinks about the past and what was normal back then. The plandemic leader moves forward and believes that God has something powerful for him or her today.
Seventh, the pandemic leader seeks to eliminate, but the plandemic leader serves to navigate. There is a world of difference between elimination and navigation. There are some things you can’t change. You can’t determine what some of the laws may be in your area for the pandemic, but you can navigate victoriously for the future. You may not be able to determine what others may say or do, but you can navigate through the critics and syncs to what God has for you.
In Psalm 23: 4, “I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” David said, I’m walking. I’m walking through the valley of the shadow of death. We can’t determine where the sun is, but we can determine where our heart is. We can’t determine how deep the valley is, but we know that God is under us and above us and all around us.
In addition, David said, “I shall fear no evil.” Instead of us seeking to eliminate, let’s serve to navigate. Let’s navigate our people through this. Let’s navigate our churches through this pandemic. Let’s navigate our families through this chaotic time. God has a compass for you and me.
The eighth quality is the pandemic leader allows society to describe them, but the plandemic leader allows Scripture to direct them. There came a time during this pandemic when governments around the world determined what is essential and non-essential? What was so frustrating to me and no doubt to you, was that the Church was listed in the nonessential category. I realize that government leaders should know better than this. Yet, sinners are blinded to the Gospel. For the most part, they don’t see the value of the local church. Whether they know it or not, it is Christ and His Church, that keeps a nation or community together!
However, what was more bothersome than the world listing, the Church as non-essential, was when the Church did not speak up and rip that label away from the thinking of people or society. The Church is in the healing business, in the teaching business, in the holistic value-adding business, in the marriage business and so much more! This is our finest moment. If we choose to get a hold of it, we are not to allow our society to describe us or define us. Our value and our definition are found in Christ. As we march on, we believe that we are going to move through, and society is not going to define who we are. We’re going to be defined by Christ and we’re going to be directed by Scripture.
Moreover, the pandemic leader, turns inward and holds on, but the plandemic leader turns outward and reaches out. This pandemic gives us the opportunity to evangelize, win souls and multiply disciples like never before. We’re not going to turn inward and hold on hoping that it is going to get better. We’re going to reach out like never before.
I’m so thrilled to see the online capacities of churches being developed during this digital age. I submit to you that we need to win the lost at any cost. We must evangelize or we will cease to be essential anywhere. If your church is not interested in winning the lost, making disciples, and transforming societies, then probably your church is non-essential. Reinhard Bonnke said, “A church that is not interested in winning the lost, is lost itself.”
Last, a pandemic leader mimics the majority, but the plandemic leader masters the moment. This is our finest hour; we are to seize it! God has trusted us with this pandemic. Let’s not mess it up!
Instead of being pandemic-led, we’re going to lead in the pandemic. We’re not going to mimic the majority and walk around with fear and dread and hopelessness. We’re going to master the moment, live by faith, and walk it out, believing that God orders our steps and our stops. Thus, I challenge you to believe that God’s best for you is in the days to come.
I challenge you to motivate your members, measure your momentum and master your moment. Let’s believe that God will enlarge our life and that He is in the midst of doing something greater and grander than ever before. Let’s move from pandemic leadership to plandemic leadership. And, while we are plandemic leaders, we need to also need to have a prayerdemic and playdemic!
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