One of the vital tasks of a leader is to build organizational memory. What got me thinking about this is my preparation to serve communion on Palm Sunday. I was having trouble coming up with a message from the record of Christ’s triumphal procession into Jerusalem. And it struck me that this celebration leading to the passion was a stake in the ground that Christ was the center of all God’s work and HE IS KING. And “Don’t forget it!” is the tone I began to take away from the text. “Don’t forget!” it even when the cross is being carried to Golgotha. HE IS KING.
I just don’t do well with these seasonal sermons. I like to use the element of surprise in speaking and after a long while of doing messages the surprise just leaves you. That’s when remembering is the important thing to do.
Joshua (Chapter Four) directed leaders from the nation of Israel to take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan and pile them on the liberated side of the Jordan. He said they would be a sign of remembrance of the work God had done. He put it exactly this way (Josh. 4:6). “Each of you is to take a stone on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them the flow of the Jordan was cut off….â€
I have found that ministries and organizations let alone people have a bad habit of forgetting the important stuff and remembering the worst. A leader is as much as anything one who rehearses the journey of an organization for the troops. A leader is a great remember-er.
So much talk about leading today is about visionizing the future. I have come to see that an organization’s future can best be grasped by discerning the core events of the past that have set the group apart. What has happened that makes us unique is the big question. And then you can move on to write your future ahead of time.
What were dramatic moments in your life that have made you who you are? What friendships and relationships have shaped you and why? What apparent negative turns have gone into making you in your core? Remember these things. Don’t live mindlessly.
Here are a few things I found that we are to remember:
* Remember what you have fallen from.
* Remember your friends
* Remember the things He has done.
* Remember you are created the way He chooses.
* Remember your sins no more.
* Remember his words.
* Remember how short your time is.
* Remember the Sabbath.
* Remember the poor.
* Remember to keep unsolved conflict from your life.
All these are highlighted in the Bible record. There is wisdom in each one.
