A fun thought on leadership for friends in creative arts ministry.

I have taken various versions of the Enneagram Test. Each confirm that I am a 7 with an 8 wing . . . a 3 eye, a 13 feather, a 1 tail, and a purple brain. Ok, so I made up part of that. These personality assessments can be fun and insightful and I agree that I place a high value on seeking freedom for myself and others, am always hopeful, and voraciously curious. However, I often see 7’s classified as having FOMO (fear of missing out). And while I love me some fun and great experiences, I don’t possess a toxic fear of missing out on things. That’s just not me.

Stay with me here.

In a recent conversation with a pastor, he shared about his church’s worship services. He spoke well of his team, but wished they could generate more FOMO amongst attenders.

I responded with this. You can have worship leaders and artists who are talented and dedicated followers of Jesus, and you can have creative moments planned, BUT you have to have a key ingredient for those moments to translate and produce FOMO amongst church people:

You must have leaders who actually have FOOMO – fear of OTHERS missing out!

There are those of us who feel or have experienced something so deeply or so wild and beyond our imagine or expectation that we cannot wait to share it, and might burst figuring out a way to bring others in on what we have discovered! Whether it’s an encounter with Jesus, his truths and plans revealed in our victories or throughout our brokenness . . . or for heavens sake if I visited the Grand Canyon and had a life changing spiritual experience, or if I had ice cream that was so good that it made me laugh, or if I held my baby nephew two minutes after he was born and felt the rush of holding a soul that just took its first breath! It isn’t about bragging on where I have been, but about wanting to take YOU with me! When FOOMO people discover the way to a secret place it won’t be a secret for long – we HAVE to bring others along! We are not selfish and fully want others to share in these experiences. You can’t fake it. It has to be genuine. And I think it’s a key ingredient for good leadership.

As a church creative there was nothing like God inspiring an idea in my heart or the heart of a team member that we KNEW would move people to where we had been! I’d be crawling out of my skin with eagerness to share it. I didn’t want anyone to miss out!

I have serious FOOMO. I wish that I could take others with me to so many places, that they could hear the things I hear, see what I see, taste what I taste, feel what I feel, read what I read, and experience a spiritual life as I do following Jesus.

My fellow FOOMO creative leaders: find ways to passionately take others where you have been. Get some other FOOMO people to join your team. Then get to know the people in your church. Dig into their experiences and where they have been – because you haven’t been everywhere. And let them take you there. You’ll find yourself wanting to share their revelations and experiences, too.

Much love, Darla ❤

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. If you are running low on FOOMO – take care of yourself. I’ve run on low or even empty before – that’s a tough place to be. Finds ways to recharge and avoid burnout. Read my Note to Church Creative Burnouts here.

NOTE: This rather lighthearted post is using the FOMO pop culture reference as a jumping off point to express a bigger idea. I know that God isn’t a God of FEAR etc, etc. Fear isn’t the point of the post – it is about our passion as leaders. 😉