Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Leading People with Grace

You do not have to look far to see the emphasis that churches place on leadership among their congregations…and rightfully so. If the saying is true (and it is true), that a group is only as strong as their leader, than the importance of leadership must be realized whether it is in a church setting or any other organization.

The Bible is full of prime examples of godly leadership. First is Jesus Christ. He took 12 lousy, ordinary guys, and placed the future of Christianity on their shoulders. He used fishermen, tax-collectors, and physicians to proclaim the good news of His resurrection. Jesus led them through personal discipleship where He literally gave His life to them for three years, and even toward the end of his earthly ministry, they said stuff like, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). All of the 12, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, died a martyr’s death for the sake of Christ!

How about Paul? Everyone speaks about his relationship with young Timothy, but don’t forget Titus and many others. Paul travels with his disciples on long missionary journeys, and gets to know them inside and out. I love the statement he makes to the leaders he knew in Ephesus, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house…” (Acts 20:18-20). What about Moses and Joshua, Mordecai and Esther, or Elijah and Elisha (just to name a few)?

Unfortunately, I think many people that we look up to as leaders have leadership development upside-down. One of my seminary professors said that he was raised in a church where people were leaders if they followed a certain set of rules. In other words you could tell if they were “mature Christians” if they did not drink, smoke, chew tobacco, curse, or go dancing. How many businesses or churches do you know where leaders commit to not going to movies, bars, or anything that may cause another to stumble? Personally, I would be much more inclined to have my leaders sign off on things like memorizing Scripture, devoting themselves to a study of the Bible, or going to places where they know unbelievers hang out. Isn’t that what Jesus did?

A list of ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do that’ sounds a lot like legalism to me. It also sounds like we are not encouraging our future leaders to think for themselves. Are we scared of what might happen when we lead people past a set of rules or traditions into a relationship? Matthew 22:36-40 comes to mind. In the end we are setting ourselves up for leaders that ultimately fail. I don’t need to tell that to a post-modern generation who sees for themselves the Haggards, Clintons, and Faldwells of our age.

Leadership is discipleship. Who are you leading? I think I can get a firm grasp on the heart of a leader by spending time with one of his or her disciples. I also think if we are ineffective leaders we will be left with people who simply want to have their ears tickled, tossed to-and-fro from every wind of doctrine, or people who have become dull of hearing. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe there are churches that don’t have to worry about who will be in the nursery this week, or how to get people interested in a weekly Bible study. Maybe there are churches that flourish when a senior pastor finally retires after 30+ years in the pulpit…maybe…

1 comment:

Justin Arnold said...

Bro! Nice Work! This blog has truly spurred me on to be a better leader.
When you listed a group of fantastic leaders or "disciplers" (obviously this list was not meant to be exhaustive), i immediately thought of Barnabas. If you get an opportunity get a concordance and look for every time his name is mentioned. In my study of Barnabas i have been amazed of his ability and willingness to lead people in righteousness. He found and led Paul. He stuck by John Mark no matter what.
in your blog you made a very wise statement,... "I think I can get a firm grasp of a leader by spending time with his/her dicsiples."
Spend some time with Paul and John Mark, what do you see?
I think Paul owes his heart for discipleship to Barnabas, who gave him a model to follow!