The blessing and the curse of social media abundance is every voice – positive, negative, constructive or damaging – has the opportunity to be amplified. Over the years I have been impacted in many positive and constructive ways by Paul Baloche and how he has led so well through multiple social media platforms.
Paul is a worship leader, pastor and songwriter who spent most of his career in Texas and now lives in New York City. He is the writer of many familiar worship songs sung by millions of people around the world and has been able to keep his focus on serving Jesus, serving the church and serving other leaders.
Paul’s social media platforms are generally used to share his ideas around gratitude, encouragement and the importance of family. He speaks often about the tension of being a Christian leader who lives in a spotlight with the necessity of promoting his own work, revealing more of his character and his desire to be a leader who serves well.
As a way to highlight each of these ideas, here are posts from three of Paul’s social media accounts.
Gratitude:
https://twitter.com/paulbaloche/status/1041774763532840963
Always grateful when I get to lead with @verticalworship Yesterday was so encouraging.
Encouragement:
https://www.facebook.com/PaulBaloche/videos/265365450775055
Your Mercy – An incredible reminder that no matter what you’re going through God’s arms are always open wide and He’s always wanting and willing to cover you with His mercy.
Family:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm1nH1RHd3i
Our whole family! (Since several of you asked “where’s David”?) 1 wife, 2 daughters, 1 son, 2 son-in-laws, 2 grandkids, and 1 mother-in-law 🙂
Paul’s consistent reminders to me and leaders around the world about the importance of gratitude, encouragement and family have spurred me on time and time again. Leadership can be difficult and leaders can often get caught up in their own problems, their own struggles and their own isolation.
To be encouraged in these ways has helped me take my eyes off my own situation and remember the focus of my leadership is to help the people I am leading by serving them, by encouraging them, by expressing my gratitude to them and by helping them become all they were created to be.
Although this can be easy to forget, Paul’s reminders over the years have been very timely and had significant impact in my life.
As a dad, the way Paul publicly values his wife, his kids and now his grandchildren has helped me to remember that my family are the ones who should benefit the most from who I am. Family is not meant to get the leftovers of my leadership benefits or be pushed to the side in the pursuit of any kind of success.
The larger context for what I see in Paul’s leadership is the fact that he is a globally recognized leader when it comes to worship ministry and songwriting. His skill is without question and yet his greatest impact in my life has come through his character, his heart and who he is as a person rather than what he has accomplished as a leader.
Since Paul’s leadership carries global impact with generational influence it feels strange to offer suggestions or advice. My only recommendation and hope would be for Paul to continue pressing on, even as he’s honest about his own struggles with self-promotion amid the abundant noise of leadership advice.
As well, the value of Paul as an older, wiser, experienced leader with a track record of both skill and character can never be underestimated. Paul’s voice is so needed in a world of instant celebrity, quick rise to success and here today, gone tomorrow influence. Experience and wisdom like Paul’s are impossible to buy and are literally priceless.
I am grateful for Paul’s leadership through social media but more than that I am grateful for his friendship and mentorship in my own life. To know that how Paul portrays himself online is paralleled by who I’ve seen him to be over the years is a great encouragement to me.
I have said several times that I would like to be more like Paul Baloche when I grow up! My hope is that the way that I live my life and the way that I lead would speak to the same ideas of gratitude, encouragement and the importance of family as Paul does.
