Wednesday, April 05, 2006
On Leadership
I was reading through the book of Acts last week, and I realised that Paul was brilliant when it came to picking leaders for his Church plants. He was the perfect example to each and every one of them. He didn?t ask them to go to Bible College or seminary to get trained, he didn?t ask them to get a diploma or a degree, he simply asked them to imitate him, as he imitated Christ!While Minister's Corner offers 6 signs of failing leadership (HT: SmartChristian)
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What a contrast this is, to what we see in the Churches today. Paul looked for Godly men and put them into positions of leadership, and then gave them the whole counsel of God, with tears in his eyes. It?s time to get the world out of our Churches, and start looking to the word of God, for our examples in training leaders. Just thinking about it, didn?t Jesus do the same thing?
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IF YOU WANT GODLY LEADERS, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE A GODLY EXAMPLE!
- Warning Sign #1: Taking Our Eyes off the Ball
- Warning Sign #2: Not Communicating a Clear, Compelling Vision
- Warning Sign #3: Fear of Taking Bold, Courageous Steps
- Warning Sign #4: Character Corruption
- Warning Sign #5: Not Managing Me
- Warning Sign #6: Bored With God and His People
Note a contrast? Scotwise is making disciples that make other disciples, Minister's Corner is running an organization - good advice for doing so, but a very different approach.
I think there needs to be a reconciliation between these two approaches, maybe "integration" would be a better word. If you hold too tightly to the later advice, the former will simply get lost in the mix. As a first step there needs to be a prioritization. The institutional realities of the church cannot be denied, but they cannot be allowed to supercede or impede the disciple building mandate of the Great Comission.
Another means of integration is in the metric of success that we use.
But finally, the integration comes in who we are - only by allowing God to transform us into who He would have us be will be be able to make the necessary choices and decisions to do this right.
Cross-posted on How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: church leadership, discipling, leadership, church, Christianity
