So... you’re a leader?
My pastor of many years was a wise man. A leader. And funny. I remember him once saying, “I’m the leader of this church! And if I look around and see the church is not following me...I’ll just run around and get back in front of them!” He understood a leader must have followers. You may have a title, but that doesn’t automatically make you a leader. Management expert Peter Drucker says, “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers." True, but maybe a bit simplistic. John Maxwell puts it this way: "Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less."
Influence. That’s an important concept for any leader.
Richard and Henry Blackaby wrote a book in 2004 called Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda that has some amazing insights for leaders today.
“The twenty-first century provides unprecedented opportunities for leaders to impact positively their organizations. However, the new millennium also brings unforeseen challenges to leaders. The digitized nature of the twenty-first century has created increasing expectations among followers, and the unrelenting advances of technology has made communications both a blessing and a curse.”
Even in those early years, these spiritual leaders were already seeing the growing communication world as a plus and a minus in the area of leadership.
The Center for Creative Leadership lists what they see as the characteristics of a leader:
- Integrity
- Ability to delegate
- Communication
- Self-awareness
- Gratitude
- Learning agility
- Influence
- Empathy
- Courage
- Respect
I love that integrity is right at the top. Other key words to me are communication, gratitude, influence, courage, and respect. How do you measure up on these qualities of a true leader?
One of the more popular concepts of leadership over the past 20 years is that of a servant leader. Many in Christian ministry understand that concept quickly and recognize the biblical foundation for that important quality of a leader. And many successful secular companies have effectively embraced servant leadership in their organizations. What is a servant leader? Here is a good explanation:
A servant leader’s focus is on serving others rather than serving themselves or being served by others. A servant leader meets people where they are so they can climb to the top alongside them rather than charging ahead.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, sums up great qualities for those of us in leadership:
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
So, you’re a leader? How do you measure up? What can you do differently today that will help you be the godly influence the Lord wants you to be?
God’s best...
Don’t drop the ball...
Kaelin Clay played American football at both the college and professional level. He finished his college career at the University of Utah and gained notoriety in a game with the University of Oregon. It was a defining moment for Kaelin...but one he probably wishes hadn’t happened. In that important game, Clay got in the open, caught a beautifully thrown pass, and was in the clear to the goal line to score a touchdown. The crowd went wild. The Utah team and fans celebrated the score…but on the field, something was happening. What the TV cameras didn’t catch the first time was Clay beginning his touchdown celebration too early, letting go of the football before crossing over the goal line. And what the opposing Oregon team realized is that if they picked up the ball, they could run the other way and possibly score. And that is exactly what happened. What could have put Utah up 14-0 turned into a 7-7 tie at that point...and Utah would eventually lose that game.
You may not be into American football, but like many things in life, there is something to be learned. A life lesson.
You are way ahead of me, aren’t you?
Finish well. Don’t quit too soon. Don’t celebrate before you should, and don’t give the opponent…the enemy…an opportunity to score against you. Don’t fumble your opportunity.
Finish well.
My friend Robert Wolgemuth has recently written a book called The Gun Lap: Staying in the Race with Purpose. In track and field races, the final lap of a race around a track is marked by the firing of a gun as the lead runner starts the final lap to the finish line. It lets the runners know this is the last time around the track. And often you see the good runners kick it into another running gear. It is all about finishing well.
The Apostle Paul no doubt had that in mind when he told young Timothy:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;”
2 Timothy 4:7 NASB
To be honest, there are times when I got close to a goal, but didn’t finish well, didn’t finish the course. Not a good thought. Yet, I have some good news for you and for me: the game isn’t over. We might stumble…and fumble…and feel defeated. But it doesn’t have to end that way.
In a previous letter to Timothy, Paul gives him strong instructions about the battle that is the Christian life:
But you, Timothy, man of God.... Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 MSG
A 15th century Italian priest, Lorenzo Scupoli, gave a short list of things needed for the spiritual battles that come to all of us, the things that would keep us from completing the task, from finishing well. In his book, The Spiritual Combat, Scupoli says:
Begin by equipping yourself with four weapons that are necessary for victory in spiritual combat:
- Distrust yourself
- Have confidence in God
- Use your body and mind properly
- Pray
Great reminders for us if we are to finish strong and not fumble before crossing the goal line.
Vision…right or wrong?
It’s often misused. The Scripture on vision.
Where there is no vision, the people perish….
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Business and ministry leaders have often quoted that verse and then proceeded to share their vision for the company or the organization. Right…or wrong? At my most generous I would say partly right. Vision is important. And few organizations, corporations, or ministries can move forward without some direction. But is it any old vision? Is it just someone’s good idea? Or is it God’s idea?
That is where we often go wrong in quoting this verse and applying it to moving our ministries forward. We have committees, think tanks, focus groups, or leadership groups that gather and thrash out their vision, including their latest vision statement. To the degree that we don’t consult God and seek His direction, we can be leading our organizations off in the wrong direction with the right purpose in our heart. Sincere…but sincerely wrong.
Henry and Richard Blackaby address this in their book Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda:
Vision is crucial for an organization. Its source is God’s revelation of his activity…. When leaders successfully communicate vision to their people, it will be God who sets the agenda for the organization, not the leader, and the people will know it is God.
What do we want to pass on to our people…our best thinking or God’s agenda? They are not automatically the same.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8 NLT
Yes, leaders can come up with a vision, but leaders cannot come up with God’s will on their own. It must be revealed by God.
How does the Lord reveal His will and His agenda? Look around. What is God doing in your ministry right now? What have you seen as a leader that was obviously from the Lord? Are you communicating that to your staff? To your leadership? To those who support the ministry work to which God has called you? That is your best way to move people on to God’s agenda. Communication is key.
Again, the Blackabys underscore the importance of communicating as a leader. “You cannot be a poor communicator and a good leader.” And they expand on that thought in their book:
Spiritual leaders don’t just tell stories for the sake of telling stories. They rehearse what God has done, they relate what God is doing, and they share what God has promised to do…. People don’t have to buy into a vision; they simply have to see that God is making a promise.
As I think of all this, I realize that my vision is very limited. I can only see so far. And my imagination is also dwarfed by what God has in mind. Do I want what my finite mind can come up with…or do I want to move toward God’s amazing agenda?
God’s best...
Things not worth doing...
I love the quote from Ken Blanchard and others.
Things not worth doing are not worth doing well.
Have you ever come to the end of the day and wondered what you have accomplished? I have. Oh, sure, I filled my day with “stuff.” But what did that stuff all amount to? Sometimes we obsess on getting something done well that didn’t need to be done at all. Or, could have been done by someone else (probably better).
Blanchard says, “Today people are often busy doing what seems to be extremely urgent but really isn’t. They spend a great deal of time moving paper rather than listening to their people....” (Ken Blanchard, The Heart of a Leader)
Those last four words are key. Listening to their people. So often we are so focused on accomplishing a goal and building a successful ministry that we use our people instead of loving them and letting them feel good about accomplishing the goal. We dictate jobs and set timetables.
So how does a leader actually lead? One important ministry truth is that people need to like the leader they serve. Then they will follow, not out of duty or compliance or a paycheck, but out of a sense of mission set by a someone they admire. John Maxwell talks about the charisma that a leader needs:
“THE GREATEST LEADERS HAVE IT—that special quality that causes people to be drawn to their magnetic personalities.... We all have the potential to develop this quality that makes the difference between personality and personality plus.”
- Be a People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships
This doesn’t mean that you have to become something you aren’t. It means you may need to develop some of the areas of your personality that help draw people to you and causes them to want to follow you. Nothing fake here...genuine care and concern for others.
Maxwell goes on to offer this acrostic for the word “charisma:”
- Concern
- Help
- Action
- Results
- Influence
- Sensitivity
- Motivation
- Affirmation
Without going into great detail, these are areas that can be developed in you that will ultimately help your ministry and your people who serve with you. You might examine your personality and style of leadership, then take two or three areas where you could improve. Maybe areas like concern, or sensitivity, or affirmation. What would it mean to your staff if you took time to learn what things outside of work concerned them most? A brief time of prayer with this person about these things would be a great step toward building a better and more productive relationship.
A word of caution. Don’t do this with a sense of manipulation. There has to be real concern for the person and not just what they can do for the ministry. Jesus modeled this in the love and concern He showed for friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He wept real tears and experienced fellowship and joy with them, too. Then there is John, often referred to as the apostle that Jesus loved. So much so that from the cross Jesus gave the assignment to John to care for His mother Mary, which John faithfully did.
Paul gave his Roman friends this advice: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us (Romans 12:3 NLT).
Eugene Peterson expands on that and the surrounding verse with this:
I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him (Romans 12:3 MSG).
If you are at the start of your day as you read this, think of the most important thing you can do today that will show your care and concern for those the Lord has entrusted to you as co-laborers in His work. You may need to go over that To Do list and mark out things you probably shouldn’t be spending your valuable time on anyway.
If it is the close of a busy day, ask yourself, “Did I do the most important things today...or did I just check off the urgent items?”
Then vow moving forward to think of others first and foremost. Remember, there is no virtue in doing well something you shouldn’t be doing at all.
God’s best...
What’s changed?
Has anything changed in the past year? I suspect the answer is a resounding YES! It seems the whole world has adjusted to a new normal due to the global pandemic. Masks. Social distancing. Vaccines. Sheltering and quarantining. These things and more have come to the forefront of our minds and our lifestyles.
So, what about your ministry? How is it different than it was in 2019 before the Covid-19 virus changed our world? I’m not talking about just reacting to the situation...working from home, remote broadcasting, etc. I’m talking about adjusting what you are doing to what the world is doing. How are you communicating the Gospel today to reach people today who need hope today?
Leadership guru John Maxwell put the thought succinctly: “We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.”
Has the traffic pattern of the lives of your listeners and viewers changed due to the pandemic? What do you need to do now to intersect with them with the hope of Christ? Are there different programs you need to produce? Are their new ways to get the message out? Are we holding on to what we already do because it is comfortable? “We know how to do this...and we aren’t sure how to do something new.” That’s not a good place to be. Again, John Maxwell addresses the idea of change: “To be a leader you must be able to create positive change.”
So...do we just think up stuff on our own? Do we glean from what the rest of the world is doing? Or...do we seek what the Lord would have us do to reach a lost and dying world? Scripture reminds us that the Lord Jesus was not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). Paul told us he would use any means in order to reach some (1 Corinthians 9:22). That sounds like passion, focus, and creativity...all for the sake of Christ’s Gospel.
And you say, “But I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know if I can do that. I’m not sure I am ‘gifted’ enough to try something new.” You may not be able...but remember, God is able. Dr. Henry Blackaby reminds us that the Lord has a plan and will enable you to accomplish all He wants in and through you.
“Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes—all the time! It must be that way, for God's glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.”
- Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day by Henry Blackaby
Today, your audience doesn’t need programs. They need Jesus and the power He intends for their lives. Those touched by your ministry don’t need some clever idea. They need the solid truth that there is a God who loves them and a Savior who died so they could live eternally with Him. And for those who embrace that truth...everything changes.
Does that sound hard? It is out of your comfort zone to adjust programming, schedules, and styles for today’s people. J. Oswald Sanders said it well. “The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.”
Embrace change. Seek God’s direction daily for your ministry. Keep the audience in mind as you program and produce. Be like the men of Issachar. They understood the times and they knew what should be done (1 Chronicles 12:32).
So... what will change today to reach someone tomorrow?
God’s best...
What have you done for them lately?
One of the seminar sessions I often present is called “The Care and Feeding of Your Staff.” The idea is not to present the great people who are part of your team as pets or animals. The thought is that those in leadership should have the best interest at heart for the ones the Lord has given them for ministry. You as a leader should care for them, encourage them, and support them.
I recently saw some statistics for U.S workers. It’s pretty revealing information about corporate America and may have insight from which we can learn in our areas of leadership.
- 79% of employees will quit their jobs due to a lack of appreciation from leaders.
- 83% of employers agree that it’s crucial to develop their employees’ skills, but only 5% of corporations actually implement these improvements.
- Only 14% of CEOs have the leadership talent they need to grow their businesses.
- 15% of candidates state they turned down job offers due to a negative work culture.
- 70% of employees in the U.S. are unhappy in their jobs due to negative management.
from 21+ Inspiring Leadership Statistics [2020 Edition]
Not a pretty picture. I wonder what the statistics would look like for Christian ministries and organizations? Would it be much different?
God’s Word is clear about giving appropriate compensation for those who work:
For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”
1 Timothy 5:18 NLT
Eugene Peterson has a unique take on this verse. In The Message he looks to verse 17 and starts out with this:
“Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching.”
Dr. Gary Chapman, who spoke at one of our MEDIAlliance Summits, has written a whole book on how to show appreciation to our employees...and it should apply to volunteers who serve in our ministries and organizations, too. Chapman bases the book on his classic “Five Love Languages,” applying them to the environment and relationships in the workplace. The premise is the same. Not everyone has the same “love” language or the same “appreciation” language. But when we can communicate our appreciation in the right language it will have a dramatic effect on those who serves with us. The author says by doing so you should expect great results. The principles taught in The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace will help you lead your team and help you show your genuine care for those entrusted to you by the Lord. One blogger gave this insight about the book:
“Our motivation is maximized when we receive our ideal form of praise, encouragement, or reward for our efforts. Since it is the job of a manager, leader, or boss to not only keep the company or department running but also to keep up a happy workforce; understanding what makes individuals tick is crucial for helping the bottom line.”
- 15five blog
A good exercise might be to take 30 minutes at the beginning of this week and write down ways you can show real appreciation to your team, both as a group and individually. Challenging? Yes. But worth the time spent in caring for and serving your team.
Prayer. Is it on your to-do list?
When do you pray? How often do you pray? And what kinds of things do you pray about? I’m not trying to probe into your life…but just wanted to get you thinking about the role prayer plays in your daily routine.
At our breakfast table, Judy and I read from a devotional book. In the evening, we read through books of the Bible. A while back a Billy Graham thought on prayer impacted me. He talked about the privilege of prayer, and then began to list the times we are to pray.
- We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving.
- We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud.
- We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting.
- We are to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient.
Wow. It sounds like prayer ought to be our daily priority. I can tell you that over these past months as my wife has struggled with multiple surgeries, I have prayed. I have prayed in petition to God. I have prayed thanking God. I have prayed for the Lord’s guidance for surgeons. I have later prayed with the surgeons and let them know people around the world were praying. And Judy and I have felt the prayers of our many friends. Prayer is not theoretical...it is our lifeline to the Father.
Oswald Chambers once said, “The only way to get into the relationship of ‘asking’ is to get into the relationship of absolute reliance on the Lord Jesus.” Have you been there? Have you agonized in prayer...and rejoiced in prayer? Chambers also said, “Prayer does not prepare you for the greater work; it is the greater work.”
And we are confident that he hears us
whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.1 John 5:14 NLT
We need to pray more, not less…according to His will, with confidence in the One who hears and answers our prayers. Let prayer be your greatest work today.
How Far Can You See?
I was looking at computers and printers the other day and noticed the tag phrase for the Epson brand.
Exceed Your Vision
That started me down a thought path. Exceed your vision. See farther than you can see. What does that mean? I thought of the “flat earth” people who only see to the horizon and deduce the earth is flat. (My international air travel tells me differently.)
What does it take to exceed your vision? First, it takes faith. You have to believe there is something “out there” that you can’t see...yet. Something that will carry you farther along life’s path. From a biblical standpoint, it means trusting in a God who is already out there, seeing the beginning from the end. As the Lord revealed to Isaiah,
"Only I can tell you the future before it even happens..."
Isaiah 46:10a NLT
In practical terms, what does that phrase mean today for you and for those you lead in ministry? It should be a revolutionary thought that removes the man-made boundaries to what God is calling you to do and to be.
Exceed your vision...
We are sometimes asked, “If money were no object, what would you do?” Well, first, it is rare...especially in ministry...when money is no object. But the idea is to do what the Epson brand proclaims. Exceed your vision.
I know a church that invested heavily in media facilities and infrastructure several years before the pandemic forced everyone online. When the church doors were shut, the media door swung widely open. Recently, the pastor revealed that on the previous Sunday over 700 thousand watched the Sunday live streams of the worship services. By God’s direction, they exceeded their own vision.
Is there something beyond your vision right now? Is the Lord leading you to take steps in ministry or in life that don’t make sense if we are only seeing through today’s eyes? Abram in the Old Testament experienced this. God said “go,” not saying where. And Abram went, taking his whole family to a foreign land. He trusted that the Lord who spoke to him had something in the future that exceeded Abram’s vision in that day.
Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek says, “Great leaders must have two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate that vision clearly.”
We live in a communication age. We as leaders...no matter who we lead...need to be able to bring others along toward that vision, even when they cannot see it clearly. And as Christian leaders, we have the added responsibility to move others to God’s agenda, the ultimate vision for all of us.
Drs. Henry and Richard Blackaby wrote a book on spiritual leadership. In it they talk about how important it is for a leader to know where the Lord is leading.
It’s surprising how many leaders settle for managing the day-to-day operations of their organization with no comprehensible idea of where God is leading them. Every decision is a step toward a destination.
Spiritual Leadership, Henry and Richard Blackaby
So, what is the destination the Lord has before you? What lies over the horizon for your ministry...for you...for your family? Are you willing to obey God’s direction toward something you cannot see yet? Are you willing to be obedient to His call in your life as a leader?
Exceed your vision...and move others toward what the Spirit of the Lord is leading you in ministry.
God’s best...
Say YES to NO!
There are seasons in life and in ministry. Sometimes you feel you are slogging through the mud. Other times, all is working smoothly, ministry is moving, and people are blessed. I remember years like that over my many decades of media ministry. Good things were happening. Others were excited about what they saw. Requests would come in to do this, speak there, meet with these folks, lead this workshop, serve on this committee...and on and on. Most of the time...I said YES. It was as if the word “no” wasn’t in my vocabulary.
To be honest, I haven’t progressed too far down the road, but I have learned there is nothing wrong with saying no to something that is not a priority. It isn’t easy. And it is even harder to do without guilt when it is a good friend or colleague who is asking.
Recently, my friend Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth helped me better understand the whole concept of saying no in a devotional from her book, The Quiet Place. Your own to-do list is usually augmented by the to-do list others have for you...especially if you are in leadership.
“There will seldom be enough time in a twenty-four-hour day for you to do everything that is on your to-do list. For sure, there will never be enough time for everything that is on everyone else’s list for your life! You can’t spend time with every person who wants to talk, read all the books you’d like, and tackle every project you’re interested in....”
So, what is the secret? How do you prioritize things that all seem like a priority? The answer is found in the life of Jesus. He didn’t do everything others wanted Him to do. He didn’t heal everyone, feed everyone, calm every storm, or raise every dead person to life. So... what was His guiding principle? Jesus did what His Father had for Him to do. He had God’s to-do list...His priority. In Jesus’ priestly prayer to His Heavenly Father found in John 17, the Lord said,
“I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
John 17:4 NLT
Did you see that? Jesus said He did what His Father gave Him to do. Great insight for us today.
There will be many demands on you, your time, your talent, your knowledge, your energy. Which among them is God’s will for you? Which ones are obviously part of the Lord’s plan for you? More importantly, which ones...though good things to do...are NOT in His will for you? Setting the parameters and priorities according to the Lord’s plan will make saying no a bit easier. As Nancy Wolgemuth says, “All you have to do is the work God assigns to you. And believe it or not, there is always time (and grace) to do everything that is on His to-do list for you.”
I still struggle with saying no, but I continue to work on it. Why don’t you join me in seeking God’s priority and focusing on that first and foremost? Yes...I think I still need to work on that these days in my own life and ministry.
Who are you?
Do you ever get that question? If I asked you to take out a piece of paper and write down in bullet-point form the things that identify you, what would you write? What would be at the top?
Several years ago, I was in a high-level meeting between a pastor of a large church and the head of a major Christian university. After a few minutes of visiting, the head of the university looked at the pastor and said, “Now, who are you?” Kind of awkward. In his defense, the university president had just come back from vacation and didn’t have time to get briefed on who his visitors were.
What would you have said? Most of us would have given our credentials as to our leadership role in a key church in a major city. But would that have been the most important way to identify ourselves?
A recent devotional from Lead Like Jesus reminds us of the right perspective we should have as leaders.
“It can be easy to forget, especially if we hold formal leadership positions, that being a leader is not our identity or calling. We are first children of God, called to follow Jesus.”
John Maxwell says, "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."
It is interesting to read the Facebook profiles of people and see how they describe themselves. Many, rightly, begin with their relationship with Christ, then go on to list other ways they can be identified. But not everyone does that.
Our identity is important. We need to get it right. Jesus entered into the conversation of some of his disciples as they discussed what others were saying about who Jesus was. Jesus looked at them...Peter in particular...and asked, “But who do you say I am?” (italics added)
If our identity is bound up in what we do, then we open ourselves up to failure, and, often, a spiritual spiral downward. There will be times when we fail, when our team fails, when we and our good intentions are misunderstood. We need to hide our identity in God’s grace, not in our own achievements.
In his book Transforming Grace, Jerry Bridges gives great insight on this key area for leaders.
“Living by grace instead of by works means you are free from the performance treadmill. It means God has already given you an “A” when you deserved an “F.” He has already given you a full day’s pay even though you may have worked for only one hour. It means you don’t have to perform certain spiritual disciplines to earn God’s approval. Jesus Christ has already done that for you. You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus, and you are blessed by God through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you ever do will cause Him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by His grace given to you through Jesus.”
Let me ask you, what is the overarching identifying trait of your life? Who do your friends say you are? What does your family say when asked about you? What would Jesus say?
The Apostle Paul was well aware of his position. Christ was primary. He was secondary, at best. Eugene Peterson’s The Message puts it this way:
I identified myself completely with him (Christ). Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So, who are you?