Tip Of The Spear

You may be wondering why I named this blog "On The Front Line".  It comes from a concept we talked about frequently when TurningPoint Church launched in February 2012.  We as a launch team were tasked with being the first ones into the battle that is starting a church.  Pastor Josh Mauney, planter/lead pastor of TPC, frequently referred to the leadership of the church as the "tip of the spear".  It's a concept that I've been intrigued by and one that has been on my mind the past few days.

A spear is a pretty basic weapon made up of 2 parts: the shaft and the spearhead.  It's purpose is simple: to pierce it's target, with the intention to wound, disable, or kill.  Basic stuff, right?  But when you look a little closer, the thing you'll notice about the spear is that it's only really useful if the tip of the spearhead is able to pierce the target.  If that's not accomplished, the spear does not fulfill it's purpose.  In other words, the effectiveness of the spear as a whole is determined by how effective the tip of the spear is.

Now bear with  me as we over-analyze the spear just a bit more....

The question then becomes "What makes the tip of the spear effective?" The answer is pretty obvious: it's sharpness.  That's what it really comes down to.  There may be other factors at play, but at the end of the day, a sharp spear is more effective than a dull one.  And it all starts with the tip.  The tip is at the front: it receives the biggest push back from it's target.  But if it's sharp enough, it will pierce that target and accomplish it's purpose.  And what's more (and really the point I want to make here) is that when the tip pierces it's target successfully, it makes it a whole lot easier for the rest of the spear to do maximum damage to the enemy.  It's a simple, but powerful idea.

Ok, enough of the spear talk.  Let's get to the point.  Like I said earlier, leaders are the tip of the spear.  They are out in front of everyone else. They take on the full impact of the resistance.  And their effectiveness determines how effective those who follow behind them are.  That's why good leaders are so critical.  Without them, the spear doesn't do the damage it was intended to do.  But with them, they open up the way for others to have enormous success, which is what good leadership is all about.

You may think that all this talk of spears and warfare and enemies is too dramatic, but God would beg to differ.  His Word says that we are at war with an enemy, not of this world, but one in an unseen world (Eph. 6:12).  We are not fighting against people, but Satan.  And he is always on the prowl, ready to destroy us at every turn (1 Pet. 5:8).  The spear analogy is not one of war against any man, but one about piercing the dark world with the light of Jesus Christ.

So with this "tip of the spear" concept in mind, our attention then should turn to "sharpening" ourselves as leaders.  That's what this blog is about.  That's part of what TPC is all about.  In the next post, we'll look at a principle that helps illustrate what this looks like, and other reasons for why it is so crucial in not only the church, but in any organization.