In Australia we call them "space cadets" or "super spiros" - you may knwo them by another name. I'm talking about the leader who is so spiritual that they feel that they don't need to contribute anything to the program becasue God will do it.

I say - that's not true, not biblical and not on!

The rank of spce cadet varies significantly from believeing that no preparation is necessary, to suggesting that 60 minute bible studies in a 90 minute program is best, to the most common excuse for poor recruiting practice "I'm praying that God will bring us more leaders"

Now please see where I am coming from.

The main advantage that we have is out "whole of life" program. Rangers caters for the total child and yout - mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. The magic word here is "balanced" whole of life program.

Let me put a few of the myths of the super spiro [short for super spiritual] to rest.

1) You can't have too much bible study.

Yes you can. Too much is plain boring, unhelpful and leads to demotivated, disenchanted, ripped off children - and leaders - in your program. If you feel the calling to preach or teach bible study - find another vehicle to work out that passion. There's nothing wrong with Bible study. nothing wrong with preaching. Just that in our program there should be no more than 10 minutes. That's what the leaders manual says.

Further - I don't think the leader should run the Bible study - hand it over to the guides (patrol leaders). give them opportunity for leadership and service.

If you fill the night with Bible Study - you'll loose kids and leaders. You'll loose the leaders first! Not a good step for recruiting staff.

2) A Biblical analogy should be drawn for everything that happens during the meeting or at a camp.

Again - this rapidly looses effectiveness and breeds disdain. Applications of biblical principles and doctrine to everyday life is valuable and should be done. But remember - you can say other things too.

I've seen leaders that do this - and sooner or later everyone (leaders and kids) steer a wide berth around such people, avoiding them like the plague. Thisdosne't breed a climate of success with which to attract new leaders. It says "go away" to anyone who dares to come on board.

3) God is closing the door to Rangers for me.

99 out of 100 times this is not true. Unless you have completed that for which you were "called" into Rangers - don't even think that God would call you out. have the guts (bravery) to say "I don't want to be a part of this anymore" By allowing the "i've been called out" doctrine to abound in our programs we take the responsibility of ourselves and blame God for our inaction and poor performance.

Senior Commanders - don't allow anyone to quit with an excuse like this. It breeds poor feelings in your outpost and will knock down the very foundations of your group.

if someone wants to leave - great. There'll soon be plenty of people to replace them. But find out why they are really leaving. Don'[t accept the "God told me" line - it mostly isn't true. Find outthe real reason - and then fix it.

4) God will provide the leaders we need.

This is a tough one to counter. The clear direction from Jesus is that we should "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send in labourers" BUT when we look at what Jesus and the disciples did - we see they prayed and acted. Prayed and recruited. Prayed and healed. Prayed and taught.

James said that faith without works is dead. Did you hear that - DEAD. If you're just believeing for new leaders - you're playing with dead things.

Don't accept the "inaction" is equivalent to "holiness" - it isn't. There is no excuse for inactivity. Our task is to bring inthe harvest. You don't do that by dreaming about combine harvesters - you drive them!

5) I don't think you should be doing that

This is common in many groups - coming up from a disgruntled leader, suggesting that it is not God's will for you to do something in the outpost. If you're the outpost commander - you can [within reason] do what you like. You make the rules.

Yeah, yeah - I know - and will restate it here for the record you are under authority from your outpost council and pastor. They set boundaries for you to operate in. But within those boundaries it's almost a free for all. Make sure you're meeting your program objectives - advancement, recreation, scriptural input etc. - but do something new and bold.

In some age divisions in our outpost [eg pioneers 9-11 year old] we have pretty much removed the Bible study component from the weekly meeting. It is set as weekly homework. But the devotion bring the whole outpost together (7 to 17 year olds) for a simple object lesson. These are very powerful - and as overall leader - I can follow a theme and teach into areas that are of importance to the whole group. I can cast vision and instruct into appropriate areas.

These are two "significant" deviations in many peoples eyes - but it works well.

6) That person isn't a strong enough Christian to be a leader.

Again a tough one to counter right away. Experience has shown me that we can pretty much take on anyone as a leader inour program and get value from them.

One of my vision statements is this "I see a whole of life program where children, youth and adults grow in their faith, and are discipled and trained for service and leadership, outreach and impact, ministering and mentoring on another..."

This means - at least for me and my outpost (and by extension my state) - see Rangers as a program to help adults grow as much as to see chidlren grow.

Jesus himself took what the established church saw as "sinners" and outcasts as his key team. Shouldn't we exercise the same faith?

Don't be scared of imperfect people (like yourself!) wisely give them areas to serve, nurture and mentor them. Counsel and siciple them. They will become the backbone of your program - becasue you took them in and taught them everything they know. There will be real loyalty coming from these people.

Conclusion

When Jesus came to the world, he was continually fighting the super spiros of his day. Teaching practical, wise and appropriate responses to the world. He didn't preach a liberal gospel - but he did preach a real gospel. The compelling and overriding point of this message is that we should do likewise.

Take it easy. People are attracted to successful programs. You will be more successful if you are real and relate to people. If you're the overall leader - lead. If you're on this persons team - follow them as you lead your children.

That's the way it should be.