How I Order My Life as a Leader, Writing Out My 5 Gifts

Leaders Need to Know Who They Are . . .

. . . Before They Know Where They’re Going.

Teaching leadership courses I always ask students to accomplish this assignment:

Outline your general philosophy of living life.

Note what forms your thinking.

Identify the source of your motivation.

Give a title and descriptor that creates interest.

Explain five gifts or strengths that order your life.

Before students accomplish the assignment, I give them my example.

Everyone will have their own approach. The ordering of one’s life should be reviewed & recast each year.

I hope that if you utilize the assignment for yourself or others you will find it beneficial for yourself and your group.

 

Status Viator: My Christian Walk and its Influence on

What I Am Made to Do as an Interdisciplinary Biblical Leader

Mark Eckel, MA ThM PhD

“Being on the way” is my lifelong condition (status viator). God’s eternal, providential plan is being disclosed as I walk along the path of my God-given life. “Roads” or “paths” are First Testament words giving the place for my feet when I am “walking” in Second Testament shoes. Saved by God’s grace at nine, I began preaching when I was thirteen, filling pulpits at sixteen, and was ordained at twenty-six. Communication abilities—writing, speaking, or teaching—have been acknowledged since my childhood. The writings of Dr. Francis Schaeffer discovered during high school cemented a perspective of common ground Christian engagement with others that has marked my life ever since.

On my Christian walk along “The Way,” I continue to be influenced by:

Discipling I believe in “with-ness,” being incarnationally present. The disciples were changed because they had been “with Jesus.” My focus in identifying future leaders is always the same. Succession planning is the first job of every leader. My responsibility is to recognize, guide, and help others toward leadership positions within their giftedness. I believe that spending time with next generation leadership is the best investment to make.

Teaching I am an enthusiastic learner who is excited to be with others who want to learn. Both preparation to communicate and the instructional experience bring a smile to my face. I love to teach Scripture, theology, faith-learning-synthesis, leadership foundations, and interdisciplinarity. I teach biblical-interdisciplinary courses for universities. I am passionate for the subject, compassionate toward the student. I believe in relational-educational contexts. Training the next generation of Christian leaders is my ardor.

Partnering I love to discuss ideas and their application with my colleagues.  As an undergraduate academic dean I incorporated discussions for collaborative faculty reflection over interdisciplinary ideas. Reading books, critiquing films, exegeting biblical texts, creating curricula are all best done with others, lending itself to peer review. Finding like-minded people with whom to vision the future based on the past is fulfilling. 

Writing A good form of communication for me is the written word. I am a creator.  Examining and explaining a topic in ways that make sense to others, gives me joy. I take pleasure in writing study manuscripts, articles, curricula, weekly essays, peer-reviewed journal articles, and an occasional book. Warp&Woof has been my personal website for a dozen years where I have published essays once a week. Cultural engagement is a delight.

Speaking The opportunity to invest in others through direct instruction is a passion at which I excel. I love to preach and deliver lectures. I instruct groups through the process of curricular development, other audiences have learned a critical-Christian analysis with movies, still others have investigated the horror genre of literature. I teach a “Theology of” series which hones apologetic-evangelistic skills. I enjoy communicating true Truth in the marketplace of ideas with believers and unbelievers.