Host Site Pastor | Troy Murphy: The Longing to Learn, Let Go

I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old when my father  told me we were going to drive to the famous Hollywood Magic store later that week. I could not stop thinking about it. What was I going to see? What would I purchase? Who would I meet?

When was the last time you longed for something? You were filled with an energy of anticipation that you could not put out of your mind. Maybe it was a special trip to a place you always wanted to visit or a class with a professor that you could not wait to attend. Maybe it was a concert, a reunion or a sports event. That feeling of a growing eagerness and expectation to be in that space is what the bible calls longing.

Do you have a “longing to learn?” The bible speaks of this type of desire to learn from David himself.

I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. Psalm 119.131

Do you have that sense of anticipation to be changed from the leadership experiences of others? To hear from God through others?

Learning happens best when we can remove the resistors that we have in place. Resistors are those expectations and limitations that we place as guidelines for our learning. As I prepare my heart, mind and soul for the Global Leadership Summit experience this week I must consciously “let go” of these resistors.

I will let go of whom I can learn from: Open your mind to the possibility that you can learn from anybody. Have you ever experienced this? I have had hundreds of people with varying levels of faith and no faith that God has used to teach me something profound and transformational. Throughout history God has used the most unlikely people to empower others toward great change. Will you let go and allow him to teach you? At the 2013 GLS, Vijay Govindarajan‘s talk on innovation was my favorite session. I had no idea who he was or what his faith journey was but I could hear God speaking to me to break the box I had formed for what the bride of Christ could be.

I will let go of where and how I will learn: Be on the alert and surprised by where and how you will learn. Every moment and place that God has us provides the potential for insight and direction for our lives and leadership. Last year’s GLS produced one of the most unexpected transformational moments when members of the special needs ministry danced and sang. That moment grew my appreciation and desire for that ministry in our church and community. It reminded me that in the midst of leading a staff and church I cannot lose the compassion for those in need.

I will let go of what I am going to learn: Remove your agenda and to do list for what you’re going to learn. You might end up learning all that you came for, but be open for what God has for you to learn. I have found it more rewarding and transformational to come with a blank piece of paper and let God fill the page. Last year the Crucial Conversations session with Joseph Grenny not only surprised me but compelled our entire staff to relook at our call as followers of Jesus to speak truth in love and become peacemakers, not peacekeepers.

No matter who you are, where you’re from or what your faith journey is, we can all let go and embrace the hunger to learn and become better leaders in our lives. Last summer I had the opportunity to jump into a canoe in the Quetico for a week. No agenda, no guides, no schedules — just letting go and drinking in whatever was in front of us. May we as leaders all enter into the GLS as a great learning adventure.

Let go and learn.