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My Top 5 Lessons In My 1st 5 Years With FCA
Nate Sallee • Jan 06, 2020
January 1st marked my 5th anniversary of joining full-time staff with FCA.
Going from a local church youth minister to local missionary was quite the transition! In many ways I felt like a spiritual entrepreneur, having to wear many hats and bootstrap our way towards momentum.
Here are 5 of my top take aways from all the trial, errors, wins, tears, smiles, and sweat.
1. Ambition Isn’t bad
Selfish ambition is bad...but ambition itself is not.
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"
Psalm 37:4
This is a great reminder that when we abide in Christ, God will give us the desires of our heart, which will align with HIS will and HIS kingdom.
Passivity was Adam's downfall in the garden and isn't recommended...following Jesus is an active lifestyle. God wants us in the game!
2. Having a Team is mandatory
A mix of my pride and my fear of damaging any relationship created some challenges early on.
I was pretty intimidated to ask people to come on the team as a financial supporter..I had some growing to do in my mind and heart.
I also liked the control that came from trying to do things all by myself, but that quickly proved futile.
It's obvious to me now that no one person has all of the gifts/skills needed to succeed, this forces us to link arms with others.
We're better together as the body of Christ.
- Volunteers
- Prayer partners
- Donors
- Staff
- Advisory Board Members
If any of these are missing we are by definition not prepared for God to entrust us with more open doors, influence, and resources. I'm so grateful for this team!
3. Clarity is king
When you are so immersed into a certain field we develop the "curse of knowledge" and assume everyone else understands who you are and what you are about.
Some people in NKY still don't even know what FCA is. Humbling, but true.
As one of my favorite authors states, "If you confuse, you lose."
Being clear and direct was intimidating to my conflict avoidant tendencies but it's necessary to communicate well.
- Gospel
- Many people need to hear the Gospel about 7 times before they grasp it and make a decision. That's why our tool of "The Four" is so helpful.
- Fundraising
- People rarely give to causes they don't understand. That's why I'm grateful that we can say "we are Transforming NKY by ministering TO and THROUGH the COACH."
- Equipping Coaches + volunteers
- Answering these 2 question is huge: What do you want me to do? How do you want me to do it?
4. Most of our limits are just thoughts we believe to be true
For 30 years of my life I never considered myself a long distance runner. I wore husky jeans back in elementary school and was way more comfortable in a weight room.
I made all the jokes:
"I'm not running unless someone was chasing me"
"Runner's high?! Yeah right...those people are crazy"
I changed my thoughts, which changed my feelings, which led to new actions and now I'm proud to say I've completed 3 Half Marathons and 1 Full marathon (even though it took me what felt like forever)!
Romans 12 encourages us to be transformed...HOW?
By the renewing of your MIND. If you want something to change, challenge your thoughts and existing narratives around it.
5. Numbers are a great tool but a terrible God
Scoreboards exists for a reason, unless it's Upward and then you may have to keep a running note.
Numbers are important because they act like gauges on a dashboard.
They help tell the story if we are winning or not.
Finding the RIGHT numbers to look at is key. They have to be things that we can actually influence.
We can't turn someone's heart and make them follow Jesus...but we can do life with them, create environments for them to hear God's word, and invite them to trust Jesus.
We do the possible and trust God for the impossible.
What's one thing you've learned in the last 5 years?
Thanks for journeying with us!
NKY FCA Blog
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Information about the new app that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes developed.
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Contact Info
128 Johns Hill Rd.
Highland Heights, KY 41076
859-608-3114
nsallee@fca.org